2,500 pay respects to pillar of tight community

PARKERSBURG -- About 2,500 of Ed Thomas' closest personal friends converged here Monday morning to pay their final respects to the legendary football coach who will be remembered longer for love of family and friends and service to God and community.

Each of Thomas' many mourners had a personal and emotional relationship with him, best friend and fellow coach and teacher Al Kerns said during Thomas' funeral at the First Congregational Church.

"He was the best friend of so many people. I've never known a man like that," said Kerns.

Thomas, who was shot to death Wednesday during a weightlifting session at the school, connected with people in a way that made them friends for life, said Parkersburg Police Chief Chris Luhring, one of 1,100 people who filled the church and its hall to capacity for the 90-minute service.

In a scene reminiscent of Sunday's visitation, which was extended three hours to accommodate all the mourners, another 900 watched Monday's service on a videotape link at the nearby Veterans Memorial Hall, while several hundred more in the parking lot listened to it on loudspeakers.

The hearse bearing Thomas' remains to Oak Hill Cemetery inched through blocks-long galleries of mourners who soon closed around the blue vinyl awning over his final resting place to hold hands and exchange hugs and quiet words.

Thomas' many mourners "recognize a man after God's own heart," said the Rev. Brad Zinnecker, pastor of the Congregational Church, attended by both the Thomas family and the family of Mark Becker, the 24-year-old Parkersburg man charged with murdering his former coach.

Of all the coach's many special talents, his best was friendship, according to Kerns. "He only saw the best in others, and I guess that's why he got all this back," he said.

"When someone cares about you, you care back. That's his legacy," said University of Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley, one of dozens of coaches who paid their respects to their colleague and mentor.

As evidenced by Thomas' slaying and the tornado that leveled a third of Parkersburg 13 months ago, bad things can happen in small-town Iowa, said Thomas' boss, schools Superintendent Jon Thompson. "But because of people like Ed Thomas, good things happen every day in small-town Iowa. That's why Coach Thomas stayed here 34 years," Thompson said.

Echoing so many of Thomas' former football players, Jordan Simon, 18, a senior-to-be at the local high school, said his late coach was like a second father to him.

Simon said the most important lesson he's learned from Thomas is to "put God and family first, yourself last and everyone else in between."

The football team, like the Aplington-Parkersburg community, is down now but will be strong again, he said.

Ed and Jan Thomas' oldest son Aaron, a coach and administrator at Union High School in La Porte City, said his dad would have grown impatient with the five days of mourning that followed his death.

Channeling his dad, Aaron Thomas said, "You can be sad the rest of the day, but come tomorrow, once you wake up, it's time to get going ... There's a lot of work to be done in this town."

Thomas also expressed his family's gratitude for the outpouring of support in the wake of the tragedy.

"We cannot thank you enough for waiting in line (at Sunday's visitation). You don't know what that meant to us, and also what that would have meant to my dad," he said.