New London – Artie Lamoureux had no idea what was about to happen. Or that his whole family was even in the same room to watch it.

“Good, clandestine work by our staff,” his boss, Tim Fitzpatrick, the athletic director at Coast Guard Academy, was saying last week.

Fitzpatrick knew that Lamoureux, the Academy’s Assistant Athletic Director for Operations, was about to receive the “Spirit of a Bear” award, given annually to a handful of people whose loyalty and diligence enhances the cadet experience.

And so there, suddenly, in front of the entire corps one night last week, Lamoureux, a graduate of St. Bernard and Coast Guard employee for the last 17 years, got the surprise of a lifetime. And a thunderous ovation.

“I don’t think he ever dreamed in a million years that would happen,” Fitzpatrick said. “But I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more. A winner from the word go.”

Indeed. Lamoureux is the ambulance driver of the athletic department, the guy who offers quick pick-me-ups through tending to those sometimes deadly daily details. At a place famous for militaryspeak and its accompanying acronyms, the athletic department’s go-to line is often, “Uh, I’m not sure. Ask Artie.”

“In all the years I’ve been doing this,” Fitzpatrick said, “I’ve never had anyone I’ve had more confidence in than Artie. He has the complete trust of everybody.”

Lamoureux began at Coast Guard as an intern. His father, Art, a teacher for four decades at St. Bernard (and the intrepid public address announcer at Coast Guard football games) gave him the following advice: You are in on the ground floor and lucky to be where you are. Do what they ask of you.

The son listened. Now Artie Lamoureux is the point man for the department’s Adidas contract, the de facto Director of Operations for football and quite capable of understanding Fitzpatrick’s wishes when the boss says, “figure it out.”

Put it this way: He better know what he’s doing, for example, after football games. It is Lamoureux’s responsibility to make sure the food arrives on time after the game for about 60 players, coaches and staff who can tear through pizzas and grinders as if a famine is coming. This is not easy. Lamoureux must know where the bodies are buried in many of the road outposts for the Bears, relying on remote pizza joints and other eateries to be prompt and delicious.

Lamoureux won an award from the National Football Foundation in 2008 for being friendly to local high school football. Schools headed to the playoff games on synthetic turf, but not blessed with it on their own fields, get to practice at Coast Guard thanks to Lamoureux, a liaison between the academy and the community.

“He’s extremely loyal and extremely enterprising,” Fitzpatrick said, “and it’s not surprising when you see where he came from. His mom and dad are special.”

This is where he came from:

“We had to do a paper in a public speaking class that my dad was teaching and a five-minute speech on it,” he said a few years ago. “I thought I did a good job, but it only lasted 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I thought that maybe he wouldn't care. I got my grade back. An 'F.'”

This is the same Artie Lamoureux whose father calls him “Boze.”

“It’s short for Bozo the Clown,” Artie said.

(They’ll be here all week folks.)

It is such an upbringing, complete with diligence and humor, that renders one eligible for the “Spirit of a Bear” award.

Here’s hoping athletic department employees are considered for future nominations as well. Coast Guard is fortunate to employ many loyal, enterprising souls — Bruce Cobb in the equipment room and sports information director Jason Southard come to mind — as two guys who promote the spirit and mission of the place. And have for many years.

For now, though, raise a glass to “Boze” for 17 years’ worth of jobs well done.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro. Twitter: @BCgenius