Longtime DeMatha teacher, coach known across U.S. for SAT prep classes

"One of his greatest traits was the ability to get kids to think for themselves," Wootten said. "I've never met a finer educator."

In about 1980, Dr. Offutt began to offer preparation classes for students taking the SAT exam. He had a doctorate in education, with a specialty in curriculum planning and testing, and began an intensive study of the SAT on his own. He saw that many of DeMatha's students, who hailed from urban areas, were at a disadvantage when taking the daunting test.

"The test is incredibly culturally biased," he told USA Today in 1998, "and for years, I refused to tutor for it."

But because the SAT was required for admission to most colleges, Dr. Offutt put his expertise to work by helping DeMatha students improve their scores. He led seven-week preparation courses several times a year and often taught private one-on-one sessions. Many students saw their scores soar by as much as 300 or 400 points.

As DeMatha's athletes and other students won scholarships to selective schools, word of Dr. Offutt's test-prep wizardry quickly spread. In addition to local students, he taught the children of college presidents and corporate executives. Coaches all over the United States sent star athletes to him for SAT preparation.

"One year," McMahon said, "the entire North Carolina starting basketball team had been tutored by Buck."

Charles Edward Offutt Jr. was born Feb. 12, 1931, in Washington. His father's nickname of "Buck" was passed on to him as a boy.

Dr. Offutt graduated from St. Anthony's High School in the District in 1949 and served in the Coast Guard before graduating from George Washington University. He received master's and doctoral degrees in education from GWU in 1961 and 1972, respectively.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Joanne Cooper Offutt of New Carrollton; three sons, Michael Offutt of New Carrollton, Stephen Offutt of Fulton and Mark Offutt of Laurel; and a grandson.

Joanne Offutt said her husband, who retired from teaching in 2008, never grew weary of the classroom: "He often said, 'I love my job, and they even pay me for it.' "

McMahon described himself as an underachiever until he took Dr. Offutt's literature class as a senior at DeMatha.

"He not only taught me to think, he convinced me, as much by example as words, that it was my moral obligation to do so and to serve others," McMahon wrote in 2005.

McMahon went on to receive a doctorate in English and taught with Dr. Offutt for many years before becoming DeMatha's principal.

"He believed every kid could learn to the highest possible degree," McMahon said this week. "He never gave up on a kid."