Lou Nanne started broadcasting the Minnesota Boys’ State High School Hockey Tournament while he was still playing hockey himself.

He continued as he and his wife Francine raised four children, as he battled prostate cancer and suffered the loss of a son to brain cancer. One thing never changed. His zest for life and enthusiasm for high school hockey. He even got to broadcast games involving a son and two grandsons.

So how did he do it all? For one thing, despite having four children he never changed a diaper.

“No, he never did, no,” laughs his wife Francine. “He was a great dad…but I was a great mom.”

The Nanne kids also got a kick out of the diaper story.

“He used to wait for my mom to come home,” says son Marty Nanne. “We’d be sitting in a dirty diaper or whatever or he’d go to a neighbor’s and say ‘Can you change this one for me?’”

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The Nanne kids also love to share stories about Lou’s ill-fated stint as a part-time farmer in the 1970s.

“Back when we had a farm…a lot of people didn’t know they bought a farm in Litchfield,” Marty says. “So he went and rented a roto-tiller…he’s out there in knee-high socks, black socks, sandals, shorts. Big lamb chop sideburns.”

You can probably tell by the mental picture Marty paints that the farming “operation” was a bit of a challenge.

“I think (North Star teammates) Cesar Maniago and Murray Oliver pulled up and said, ‘Hey Lou, what are you doing?,’” Marty says, then breaking into a great Lou Nanne imitation. “’I’m making Francine a garden. She’s always wanted a garden.’”

Questions remain about whether that garden resulted in any vegetables.

He also tried to raise beef cattle with the idea of using the meat for Minnesota North Stars pre-game meals. One problem. He thought the cattle would fatten up just by eating grass in the fields and had no idea a little hay might help to feed them. They actually lost weight. You might even say they were emaciated.

“They couldn’t actually use them to slaughter (for meat) so they had to replace the cows,” laughs son Marc Nanne, breaking into his own imitation of his dad. “’I had no idea they didn’t just eat the grass.’”

In the middle of all these crazy antics is Michelle Nanne Lettieri, the oldest of the Nanne siblings and mother of Minnesota Wild player Vinni Lettieri.

“It was easy being the oldest and the only girl I feel like I was the apple of my dad’s eye which was nice,” says Michelle. She’s amazed by his devotion to and love of his family.

“He’s incredibly in love with his grandchildren, great-grandchildren,” she adds.

Marc Nanne recalls his dad’s strength when Marc’s twin brother Michael died of a brain tumor in 2012 at age 48.

“We were all fighting for his life,” says Marc, fighting back tears. “And he was there leading the charge.”

“A lot of times families fall apart when terrible things like this happen,” says Francine. “For us, it was the opposite.”

She says the family grew closer than ever in the face of adversity.

Now the Nanne family will sit back and enjoy Lou’s final state hockey tournament broadcasts after 60 years behind the microphone. They’ve been happy to share him with Minnesota.

“I think he left his mark on the tournament,” says Marty, who was thrilled to have his dad broadcast his appearance in the 1984 state tourney as the Edina Hornets won the championship. “(He left) his mark on the state of Minnesota and we’re all very happy for him and looking forward to celebrating with him this weekend.”

Lou’s final broadcast will be the Saturday night at 7 p.m. when he works the call of the Class AA championship game.