Edwin D Reed

Edwin David Reed came to this world on March 3, 1943 to Glen and Ollie Reed in Orofino, Idaho. He was a joy from the beginning. A young child with a bright smile and a great sense of humor. Everyone knew  at early age that he was going to be special.

Tragedy did find him at an early age as his mother passed from an unknown illness when he was in the third grade and his father was tragically killed in a logging accident when he was in the fifth grade. He, his brother and sister we’re all sent to different homes, and raised by various aunts and uncles. As fortune would have it he would go to live with his Aunt Mae and Uncle Aaron Reed and they soon became Mom and Dad, and he got 2 new brothers, Aaron and Steve.

He grew up in Kamiah, Idaho. Always full of joy and a humorous story, Ed was the life of a party. He loved sports playing football, basketball, baseball and running track in high school. He found that sports taught him a lot of life skills, such as teamwork, hard work and what it means to win or lose. One of his greatest memories was running back the opening kickoff for a touchdown on homecoming and having a date with the homecoming queen that night, Wilma Naftzger.

He graduated from high school in 1961. He promptly enrolled at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. There he began to have the time of his life. Unfortunately, he started having too much fun and the Dean of Students recommended that he find a new focus in his life and that should probably be the military. His girlfriend Wilma agreed that would be a good idea. Ed along with his good friend Dale Adams were off to The Marine Corps.

He served in the Marine Corps for four years. He was always proud of that fact. He felt that the Marine’s taught him discipline, and life skills that forever would shape the man he became. He knew if he could make it through 4 years ofthe Marines he could do anything, and he knew that meant that anybody could accomplish anything they wanted ifthey only focused on that task; he wanted to coach and teach that.

On June 19, 1965 would be the day Ed made the smartest decision of his life, he married Wilma Naftzger. She was his balance. She gave him direction and focus, and together they were a great team. They began their journey in Pocatello, Idaho, where Ed returned to school with a new focus, and Wilma worked to support them.Ed knew he wanted to be a coach, he couldn’t get enough sports. He knew by teaching and coaching he could reach a lot of kids and at the same time he was doing what he really loved.

Ed graduated from college in 1970,and his job hunt began. As all of you know Ed was not a patient man and the first job that came up was a teaching job and assistant basketball coach’s job in Rawlins, Wyoming and he took it. $6500 dollars a year how could you pass that up. So with their 3 year old son, David, and youngest son Dale on the way, Wilma and Ed were off to their new journey.

Ed worked under Coach Warren Loendorf, he loved coaching. He loved the kids, especially the ones with troubles or difficulties in their lives, he knew what it was like and he was great at relating to them. He was in charge of the JV and his third year they played a great team in Baggs, Wyoming on their new gym; a team that would go on to win a state championship. Ed had his boys motivated that night, as he told them,” They don’t respect us we are just a JV team, they are going to win a state championship, but they are not going to win it tonight. Tonight we shock them.”  And they did, but something struck Ed about this little town in Wyoming as he thought this might be a great place to raise a family, but in the back of his mind he knew he could coach at the big schools and maybe even college.

As fortune would have it again, the Little Snake River Basketball head coach in Baggs left after winning the State Championship in 1973, Ed was offered the Head job and he knew they had great talent coming back, and it was a great opportunity to start building his resume. So with Wilma, David, and Dale they headed off to Baggs, Wyoming.  Ed planned on being there for a couple of years, win a state championship and then move on to a bigger school. He was wrong.

Ed had great success from the beginning as his teams went to the state championship his first two years, unfortunately they were not able to win either one. But his third year, was the year the ir team was going to be great.Then tragedy struck that summer before school started, when one of Ed’s great players was tragically killed in a car accident. Ed was devastated, he loved this boy like a son, and was heartbroken as was the team . But Ed taught them all about life,tragedies, the good and the bad, and what comes with all those things. They played inspired basketball, they played together, they played hard, they had a great year. But in the end their emotional journey came to an abrupt end in the regional tournament, when they were upset. Ed again was saddened by loss of the game but was hurt more by the fact his team would not be able to play anymore games together. His third grade son, David, would tell him on this night, “Don’t worry Dad, I’ll win you a state championship someday.” Ed smiled and thought I hope we win one before that, that’s a long time to wait.

But that’s when it changed for Ed, he knew this community was a great place to raise a family. He had great friends, he had a great job, and he loved coaching. He knew it couldn’t get better than what he had. He was not leaving Baggs, Wyoming.

He coached with passion. He was a disciplinarian. He demanded that every kid had his haircut so their hair didn’t touch their collar or ears.Yet was always kind and funny to his players. He loved using humor when he coached. He would ask his player who was in foul trouble during the game if they liked coaching basketball, and they would be confused and reply, “What do you mean, Coach?” And Ed would say, “Well, if you keep fouling you are going to be sitting by me on the bench helping me coach.”  He loved winning but knew and taught there were much more important things to learn.  He took great pride in the fact that his teams always wore ties on game days, they showed great sportsmanship, they worked hard, and they played together.

Thirty-two years Ed taught and coached at Little Snake River Valley High School. He had great success. He won 5 basketball State Championships, 4 State runner-ups, and 6 State Cross Country State Championships .He won his first in 1984 with his son David on the team, won his 2nd and 3rd in 1988, and 1989 with his youngest son Dale on the team. But in 1996 when he won his 4th State Championship, someone said to him it must be nice to win a state championship without a son on the team. And he replied, “My sons are always on this team.” He finished with his 5th State Championship in 2000, a team he thought may have been his best ever, but he would always get arguments from former players that would say they played on the greatest team ever in Snake River history.

He loved coaching. He did it the right way. He knew sports mimicked life. There were ups and downs, highs and lows. He preached to be honest, and fair, and above all work hard at what you do. He was tough on kids, but he knew instilling that toughness would help later in life. Live life to the fullest, don’t get too high on the highs, and don’t get too low on the lows. Life to Ed was about creating memories, some good and some not so good, remembering the good times and learning from the bad times. Life is full of consequences, good choices leads to good things.

When Ed retired from coaching and teaching, he knew what he wanted to do next. Follow his grandkids. He would make the 7 hour trek from Baggs to Wray, Colorado to watch a junior high football game, and then return back to Baggs that night. He loved it, it gave him such joy. And as his grandchildren grew and as Wilma grew closer to retirement, he knew he wanted be a part of his grandkids everyday life. So in 2005 Ed and Wilma decided to move to Wray, CO. They were leaving 30 plus years of friendships and careers behind so they could be near their grandchildren.

Ed never had trouble fitting in anywhere. He made friends, told stories and was immediately accepted by his new community. To be honest he had a new audience and it gave him such great joy to make people smile.

Ed and Wilma loved being around his grandkids, and watching them compete in sports. They spent most of their time in Wray watching Chris, Danielle, Austin and Bailey, but loved going to Houston to watch their granddaughter Rachel play volleyball and spending time with their grandson Bruce.

He did get the coaching bug again while living in Wray. He coached for 4 more years. Imparted more wisdom on several young people in his new community. But in the end he didn’t like coaching his grand kids, he never wanted to have a moment where he was mad or frustrated with them, he loved watching them not coaching them.

He finished his coaching career with 482 wins and 203 losses, he was inducted into the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame, along with the Wyoming Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was the Executive Secretary of the Wyoming Coaches Association for many years and was instrumental in fund raising for the association so it could become the stable organization it is today.

In the end, Ed lived life like he wanted to. He didn’t have any regrets, except he never got Wilma the Lexus she wanted . He had a full life, he loved his wife,his sons and their wives, his grand kids and their spouses. He told his boys on his last days that he had a great life and he was ready to go. They weren’t ready to let go but they take great comfort in knowing that he is in a better place now.

He was preceded in death by his mother Ollie and father Glen, his step fathers Aaron Reed and Mel McPherson, and half sister Vi.

He is survived by his mother Mae McPherson, wife Wilma,brothers Bob,Ron, Aaron, and Steve,  sons David and Dale, and their wives Michelle and Cristen. Grandchildren Christopher,Danielle and her husband Tyler, Austin, Rachel, Bailey, and Bruce, multiple nieces and nephews.

Ed lived life like it was a celebration, he would ask you to do the same. He would have wanted to thank you all for the love,respect, and support you have given him over his many years.

A Vigil Service will be held at the Spellman-Schmidt Funeral Home, 427 Adams Street in Wray, Colorado, Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. with Bob Snyder officiating.

Funeral Mass will be held at the St. Andrews Catholic Church, Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. with Father Jonathan Dellinger officiating. Memorials may be made to the Edwin D. Reed Scholarship Fund, Wray High School ~ Wray, Colorado or Little Snake River Valley High School in Baggs, Wyoming. Spellman-Schmidt Funeral Home in Wray, Colorado was in charge of arrangments.