» EARLIER COVERAGE: Community embraces beloved coach
The Marion Local football team, which enters the second round of the playoffs this week with a 10-1 record, played for Thobe this season.
“Our seniors this year, obviously want to win for the community and the team, but they also want to fight for Dan,” Thobe’s friend, Kim Habodasz, told Tom Archdeacon in August. “The way he talks to them and comes across, he’s just a very genuine person and kids see that. They respect him. They idolize him.”
A 1992 Dayton Daily News story on @DaytonFootball safety Dan Thobe, who died Saturday at 46. Mike Kelly called him then the "best tackling free safety we've ever had." pic.twitter.com/j8cvQgiaji
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) November 5, 2018
Here's another Dayton Daily News story on Dan Thobe from his senior year in 1993 with @DaytonFootball. Almost half of his hometown came to see him play a game against Butler at Welcome Stadium. pic.twitter.com/dpHOvTlBfd
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) November 6, 2018
According to his obituary, Thobe is survived by his wife, Erica (Albers) and three children: Aubrey, 17; Kinsey, 15; and Gavin, 12.
Thobe was a Dayton co-captain and All-Pioneer League first-team selection. His coach, Mike Kelly, praised him in August.
“He’s as good of an athlete as I ever had,” Kelly said. “Oh Lordy, he was just an outstanding competitor. He could have played multiple positions for us.”
Thobe was a standout athlete at Marion Local before he went to UD. The community supported him throughout his college career. A group of 458 people traveled to see him play a game against Butler in his senior year in 1993.
"I'm also proud everybody's going to be here, even though it puts a little more pressure on me,” Thobe said then. “I don't mean to brag, but they know me up there. That's the way it is in a small town. Good or bad, everybody knows everybody else."
In his coaching career, Thobe spent 14 years at Vandalia Butler, including five as a head coach (2004-08). He also coached at Fort Loramie and spent the last five seasons on the staff at Marion Local.
Here is information on Thobe’s funeral from his obituary:
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at St. John Catholic Church, Maria Stein. Burial will follow in St. John Cemetery. Friends may call from 2:00 to 8:00 PM on Tuesday, November 6, and from 9 to 9:45 AM on Wednesday at Hogenkamp Funeral Home, Coldwater. Memorials may be made to his children’s education fund.
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