Town remembers slain coach

by Nigel Duara
Associated Press Writer PARKERSBURG, Iowa - Thousands of mourners gathered Monday to remember a slain high school football coach as a man of faith who believed in leading by example.

Family, friends and former players packed into a church, community center and parking lot for the funeral for Ed Thomas, the 58-year-old longtime coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School who was gunned down Wednesday in the school weight room.

Pastor Brad Zinnecker of First Congregational Church said the huge turnout was a testament to Thomas' faith.

"They recognized a man after God's own heart," Zinnecker said. "His personal life and public life were one and the same."

The number of mourners easily topped the roughly 1,800-person population of Parkersburg as people filled the church, watched a broadcast of the funeral in the community center and spilled into a parking lot to listen to the service.

In the transcript of the service, Al Kerns, a longtime assistant coach, described the unique relationship Thomas had with members of the close-knit community.

"He only saw the best in all of us," he said. "He never said no when others asked of him, so other people could never say no to him."