Loss of a legendary coach, sports fan
Edward Draheim died Friday in Florida. He was 84.
There will be an open seat at future Owatonna High School sporting events, home and away. Ed Draheim, who continued to support athletics long after his retirement from teaching and coaching, passed away Friday, March 20, in Florida at the age of 84.
Draheim was a football coach from 1968-98 for head coaches Jerry Peterson and Jeff Williams. He coached various levels of basketball, track and field, and golf, and created and coached the OHS softball program in 1978. He assisted in organizing the Ken Bey alumni golf tournament for many years.
“Ed's loss will be a big one for me and for all those he worked with over the years. He influenced so many people in such a big way. But it will be a loss for our school and community as well,” said Williams.
A former player and fellow coach, Marc Wiese, stated that his “legacy isn’t just in wins and losses – it’s in the lives he shaped, the lessons he taught, and the countless players who are better men because of him.
“He was about building young men into strong, disciplined and respectful individuals. Through every practice, every game, and every conversation, he instilled values that went far beyond the field – hard work, accountability, toughness, and pride,” Wiese wrote on Facebook.
Draheim, a member of the OHS Athletic Hall of Fame, taught physical education. He officiated basketball and baseball and received the Outstanding Supporter Award from the Owatonna Wrestling Association in 1993. He was honored by the Retired Educators Association of Minnesota in 2012 for his dedication to education and the community.
He and his wife Jane went to Florida each year, where he would be a parking lot attendant during Twins’ spring training.
Delles Solie frequently played golf with Draheim and occasionally joined him at a weekly coffee time, “He was very strong willed. He was well informed. He was confident in himself and his thoughts.”
As football coaches together, “First and foremost, with the players, he was always very insistent and detail oriented, but he was very even keeled. He demanded a lot out of them, but he always treated the players with respect.
“He was able to see the game within the game…I always strived to be able to do that myself,” Solie said.
OHS Activities Director Marc Achterkirch joined the football coaching staff when he arrived in 1995. “One of the old guards. When I first started Ed was one of the veteran coaches, veteran teachers that you looked up to, mentored us younger guys,” said Achterkirch. “He’ll be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jane and the Draheim family,” he added.
He says Draheim remained a fixture. “You know you’d see Ed at a lot of high school events, whether it was basketball games or football games. He would travel. He still went to all away games.
“Ed definitely was blue and silver, all the way through, was a huge supporter of all the activities…Always asking how things were going, encouraging coaches. That was just Ed.”