Posted on 06/03/2010 2:29:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
There is sadness in the South Bay today as people begin to learn the news that Charlie Wedemeyer has died. He died Thursday morning.
Wedemeyer was a long time football coach at Los Gatos High School who was diagnosed with ALS back in 1978. He survived longer than most with the debilitating disease that slowly took away the use of his body.
Over the past decades he and his wife Lucy became a motivational team. When he lost his voice, Lucy was able to interpret his words by the slight movement of his lips during countless Bay Area speaking engagements.
The disease continued to take a terrible toll on Charlie Wedemeyer's body leaving him for at least the last 10 years with only the ability to move his eyes.
To say he was an inspiration is an understatement. Accolades are sure to pour in from professional football players, Christian ministers and every day folks. The Mercury News' Mark Purdy was among the first. The Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game is coming up on July 21 at Spartan Stadium.
It will be the first time in the past 35 years that Wedemeyer won't be there cheering the players on. Top high school football players compete in the Wedemeyer classic every summer.
Ping
I lost a friend Monday to ALS. He lived a year after the diagnosis. A mean evil disease.
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RIP coach.
RIP.
played against his son in H.S. Very talented kid and Father. Lucy was an angel in our community even though we were rival communities in terms of sports/competition.
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