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The Ed Thomas Story
By: Mark Tabb with the Ed Thomas family.
Created by: Caleb Andrews

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Ed was born in 1950, he lived in What Cheer, Iowa. He coached for 37 years, and won 2 state titles. He has a wife named Jan and 2 sons Aaron and Todd. Ed was 58 when his life was taken in the AP makeshift weight room to the hands of a gunman who happened to be a former player.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b4f04ae6b47562317593332cc2d85cc14d862adc/c=203-0-3308-2334&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/DesMoines/DesMoines/2014/06/13//1402700187010-dmrdc5-5z7xgk46hagcko1tfa4-original.jpg

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Parkersburg is a small town in Northeast Iowa . This town was beloved by Ed Thomas. The best part was that everyone in the town loved him back. Ed loved the school and was involved in everything he could be.

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It was any ordinary day in Parkersburg on May 25, 2008 until and EF-5 Tornado ripped through the town and destroyed almost everything in site
Pictured: The high school,where Ed taught history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHJ5J7ulOU

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This video, shot by surveillance cameras at the ATM in the drive-up lane at the First State Bank in Parkersburg, Iowa, shows a home in Parkersburg being destroyed by an EF-5 tornado on Sunday, May 25, 2008. The video was provided by First State Bank officials.

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In the Tornado, Ed and his family lost their house and the football field was very badly damaged. With the football season within 100 days from that point Ed had an idea. He wanted to make sure AP started their season on time for the home opener and have a sense of normalcy.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2008/11/01/sports/football/01preps.2.enlarge.jpg

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Ed and the community got the job done and they did indeed play the game as scheduled. Pretty much everyone in the town of Parkersburg was in attendance for that game. Ed led the team to a 11-1 record the next season and AP felt like they finally were putting themselves back together.
https://50a8d2.medialib.edu.glogster.com/RPj3DtJjdUEc4G19ADm8/media/22/224d10feec1a4e23de42ff2c1b6025a21ea1fbc4/50c905340da8a-image.jpg

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On this date at 7:53 am, the police dispatch was being contacted about a shooting at AP High School in the "bus barn". The bus barn is the schools makeshift weigh room they had after the devastating tornado. The shots fired had been heading in the direction of Coach Ed Thomas who was leading a morning lift in the summer just like every other day.

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Shortly after Ed's tragic murder the family had already been asked to address the media. Aaron Thomas(Ed's son) held a press conference and immediately did the Thomas thing to do. He told everyone that the killers family, who happened to be friends with Ed and Jan needed prayers more than anyone.

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If I was Ed's son I dont know how I would with the situation. It was very brave of Aaron to go on in front of a national media about how the killers family needs prayers just the same as everyone. Throughout all the grieving, the family stuck to Ed's 3 important things: Faith, Family, Football.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/94aab4ec6868fc411e2f02c0ab82e2130548c341/c=0-217-5158-3126&r=x1683&c=3200x1680/local/-/media/DesMoines/DesMoines/2014/06/23/1403570307000-Ed-Thomas-Cover-Image.jpg