A genuine hero is lost

Nothing adds up.

Ed Thomas, one of Iowa's best-known, respected and beloved high school coaches, shot dead. Allegedly killed by a former student and football player at Aplington-Parkersburg.

Nothing adds up.

Ed Thomas, the man who has coached 37 years with nearly 300 victories. The coach who has four of his players in the NFL.

Nothing adds up.

Ed Thomas, a premier role model for kids. Father figure to so many students. The face and pillar of the community. Hailed by many throughout Iowa as a great man who happened to be a great football coach. A leader in bringing Parkersburg back from the devastating May 2008 tornado that destroyed hundreds of businesses and homes, including his. The driving force in rebuilding the ruined football field in time for the 2008 season.

The shock of this tragedy is like someone suddenly slamming a football helmet into your stomach. For residents of Parkersburg and Aplington, the emotion must be overwhelming. And then the questions gnaw.

Why? What drove the suspect, Mark Becker, 24, if he's guilty, as police believe, to do this? What could such a revered person as Thomas have done to deserve such a fate?

It's hard to imagine an answer that will suffice.

Especially for those folks in Parkersburg who have worked so hard to recover from a tornado that claimed six of their neighbors and friends and destroyed half of the town. Now, their genuine hero has been taken. How cruel and unfair.

Perhaps the community of Parkersburg, indeed many Iowans, might draw strength again from this man of faith -- from his actions, example and words such as those he spoke to an ESPN.com reporter about a month after the tornado:

"I constantly tell our kids that they have an opportunity to experience something that very few others have in this world. And that's to lose everything, to deal with the type of adversity we're dealing with here, but come out stronger on the other side. It is going to make us better people."

Ed Thomas was all about making people better. He always added up.

- This is an editorial that ran in The Gazette on June 25, 2009