Dawn Suzanne Fruth Memorial Scholarship Fund

SOME TEACHER MEMORIES - SEND YOURS TODAY!
(Year one was also a celebration of Coach Fruth's 80th Birthday- you will see the good wishes! Send your favorite teacher memories!)

The Fruths were neighbors growing up and he and Mrs. Fruth opened their home to all the kids in the neighborhood and treated us all like family. I still remember him driving around on his scooter getting back and forth to school. Mrs. Fruth invited us overnight on more than one occasion and I remember seeing my first color TV there. She fed us like kings and we never went away without cookies or some treat. There was always an ample supply of football equipment in the Fruth basement for us all to gear up and play sandlot football. 
On more than one snow day, I would get a call from Todd and Mr. Fruth would open up the gym for us kids to play, while he got some paperwork done. 
Mrs. Fruth used to organize the Trick or Treat for UNICEF drives every Halloween. We would scour Wauseon for loose change and she would throw a big party for all the kids who collected for the cause. The Fruths were the first ones in the neighborhood to put their flag down at half mast when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. They were not trying to be hip or politically correct, because at that time, many people thought that MLK was a trouble maker. They were simply showing respect for a man who believed in the best in all of us and died for his cause. 
I also remember playing with Dawn and us kids using wash tubs because they did not have kiddy pools, back then. We were so small that we could fit in one in the back yard. We all cried so much when she was tragically taken from us. Now, as a parent of three, I can only imagine the amount of faith the family had to get them through that time. 
In High School, I had Mr. Fruth as a guidance counselor. The only time I got called into his office was when I got all As and one F: in Algebra. In his typical understated way, he just said, "Chuck, these other grades are fine, but you have to get that Algebra grade up unless you want to repeat the class, next year." I knew he meant what he said and said what he meant. 
Mr. Fruth does not abide laziness and expects everyone to give 100%. Since he gives that himself, I think his spirit and character endears him to everyone who meets him. Mrs. Fruth's self-less generosity and compassion is a shining model for all. There are certain people you are always glad you had in your life, and I am truly grateful the Fruths put up with the brat next door. 
Chuck Saunders                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
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What a pleasure it always is to spend time with Larry and the family. He is one the nicest, most interesting people we know. From the times spent at Bear Lake and Thanksgivings as a kid to our visits today it is always something we look forward to. Thanks for always making us feel warm and welcome.Dawn's Scholarship Fund is truly a testimony to a very special little girl that continues to touch many lives. We wish you the best of birthdays and hope to see you very soon. We love ya!
Steve and Kris Mohler
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Mr Fruth was my Driver's ed teacher back in the day (way back!).  He called me Parnelli after Parnelli Jones, the famous Indy Car driver because of my heavy right foot.  I took driver's ed in the summer and he would always come and pick me up when he had a lot of errands to run in a short period of time because I could get it done in a hurray!  Strange note that I ended up teaching full time for 37 years and he was a driver's ed teacher as well!  Such great memories!  I still enjoy running into him and Sharon and chatting about travel. Happy Birthday, Mr Fruth - no way you should be 80!  Many more happy years to you.
Carol Meier - Class of 1966
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Bob and I are pleased to help in a small way with this marvelous effort.  We graduated together way back in '53, and thanks to the Fruth's we have enjoyed many class reunions, with the festivities always starting at their home.
Mary Joseph
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Larry, you are the ultimate friend. It's been amazing how our lives have entwined through the years beginning with Keith's first year of teaching and coaching in Wauseon. Then with some conniving of the Boydstons and Fruths, Keith and I were introduced and ultimately married on that steamy July day in 1963. Your family drove from grad school at IU to be there for us. Through the highs and lows of life, and all the in-betweens, you and Sharon have been steadfast friends.
You are selfless, as exemplified through your years of coaching and continuing to the present. Never have you sought personal praise for success. Rather you always credited your staff and players. Sharon and you have unselfishly opened your home to exchange students and have been unbelievably generous and hospitable to so many who are fortunate enough to call you friends. Wauseon Schools, Four County Career Center and the city of Wauseon continue to benefit from from your endless hours of service.
You will always be known as loving and kind as demonstrated through your love for Sharon, your family, and friends. Of all your accomplishments, I know your family is your greatest source of pride. And what an amazing family it is! It seems so appropriate for them to honor your on your 80th with these scholarship funds to benefit worthy recipients!.
May God bless you, and as Keith would say, "Happy Birthday, Coach".            
Love, Shirley Fritz
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Coach - Happy Birthday!  Many great memories!
Kim Griggs
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Coach Fruth - Thanks for all you have done!
Rick Stidham
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Approximately ten years ago I established a list of my top ten individuals who had a major impact on my life.  On the top of the list were my father and mother followed by my wife and faithful companion Joyce.  Also making the top ten list was Larry Fruth.
I have had the honor to have known Larry from the time I began teaching and coaching career at Wauseon back in the mid-1960's. Larry was the head football coach and I served under Larry as trainer until I learned that right guard was a position and not deodorant!  Larry's coaching style, his demeanor, his caring attitude he had for his athletes, his love he had for his coaches, and his Christian faith had a huge impact on me and how I acted as a teacher and coach.
After fifty years as Larry's friend, I continue to enjoy our time together visiting, vacationing, playing golf (still can't beat him) and going to "cheap chicken" at Pettisville.  Larry is a true gentleman and I have never heard him speak negatively about anyone.  He is an outstanding role model and one I am truly blessed to be able to call him my friend.
Charlie Meyers
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When I was 15 years old I fell in love with the best athlete in Napoleon High School (Well, maybe I fell in love with how everyone - teachers and students alike thought he was something special).  Woody Hayes presented him with a personal check at the Boosters Athletic Awards night to encourage him to go to college and become a coach.  Losing both his parents many years before that encouraged him to go for the impossible dream.  Here we are both going on the younger age of 80 and my love for this man has only grown through these many years together.  How can I say enough about a man who has touched so many lives?  He is the father every child should be lucky enough to have and a grandparent who never tires of playing catch with the little guys or just talking to the teens and young adults.  I for one would not be the person I am today without this special person in my life.  Happy Birthday my love and may we grow old together.
Sharon Fruth
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What a great idea to honor Coach on his 80th Birthday!  I grew up in the neighborhood and remember when the Fruth's moved to town.  Happy Birthday Coach!
Bill and Denise Drummer

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Coach Fruth,  my dear friend. from the day we first met, on that hot humid august morning it was clear we were in good hands. it was much later when it became clear what a challenge you had accepted. the proof however is now very evident, that a man of unique character had agreed to provide success for so many of us. when i think of leadership and what it should be, i think of you.  Happy Birthday Coach
​Larry Falor
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I visited with Larry and Sharon (as well as Ed and Peggy) last September when we were in Wauseon for our 50th high school reunion.  They were warm and welcoming as usual!
Wynne and Marilyn LeGrow
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​Happy Birthday to the first man in my life. The one who opened his house and his heart to me, who taught me so many life lessons about honesty, integrity, empathy and turning the other cheek. Thank you, thank you, thank you.... for helping to provide such a loving home to learn these lessons, as well as those about how to run the ball, using good follow-through on my free-throws and always using my right hand to cover my mitt once I caught the softball. So many hours spent in the side yard teaching me the basics of whatever I was learning at the time. This, after a full day teaching, driving and coaching. Thank you for giving me your energy when you probably thought you couldn't muster any more.
To this day, you are always there to provide insight and objective opinion along with your warm, loving smile and tender way. Thank you for not letting the fact that I've grown up, keep you from still teaching me so many of these critical lessons. I will always value your perspective on any subject we tackle. 
Each year I come to further appreciate all of the challenges you have faced in your life, and the manner in which you dealt with them. They are too numerous to mention, and you already know to what I am referring. But as you turned to God and then Mom for support, your true character shined through and you taught hundreds of others what it is to be a good man, a sensitive man, one that will give EVERYONE whatever he can to ease their pain in time of need.
All of these wonderful attributes are what made you the first man I ever loved, and continue to adore to this day. Thank you for giving me such a incredible life, but most of all.... thank you for being YOU.
I love you with all my heart.
Shari Fruth
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​​"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Larry  I am fortunate to be able to call you a "friend," and have for over fifty years. Over those years we have had some fun times together.
Probably the funniest story I can share is the time when you and I were taking a Saturday morning class at St. Francis college in Ft. Wayne. This particular morning was bad because we had a big snow storm the night before and since we had class at eight o:clock we had to be on the road pretty early.  It was my turn to drive and my car was a 1958 Buick two door.  We decided to take the 24/6 bypass even though it was not open to traffic.  We were  moving right along and talking up a storm when all of a sudden we were sitting in the middle of a huge pile of snow.   We looked out both windows and all we could see was snow.  The car was buried past the doors,we sat there laughing so hard........like this is fun!!!!!!! 
After sitting there laughing for fifteen minutes we thought we knew what happened.  Since the road was "officially" closed they plowed snow into the west bound land because they knew nobody would be using it.
Pondering how we were going to get out (no cell phones in those days) I said, "no worries " because I was driving a "tank."  I put the car in reverse and backed right out, leaving a perfect tunnel in that pile of snow.  We could not open the doors because they had snow piled against them and so we had no choice but to try and back up,  We had another good laughing session and proceeded to Ft. Wayne via route 24 which was very icy and snow covered so we had to creep along.
We finally made it to Ft. Wayne about forty-five minutes late for class only to find a sign on the door, CLASSES CANCELED BECAUSE OF BAD WEATHER.  We had another good laugh and headed to a restaurant for breakfast. 

Larry, you are truly one of the nicest people I have known.  You have a beautiful wife and family and have expressed to me how proud you are of their accomplishments. Many, many people respect and admire you.  I hope God gives you a long life because we have more "drifts"to get out of.
Have a blessed and joyful "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"!
Larry and Judy Siclair
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Just a note to say "Hello" and send my be sty wishes to a very special, teacher, coach and fellow staff member.
Sharon Smith Hone
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We first met when I arrived in WHS Fall of 1986. Every one of you on the staff was very friendly, making us exchange students feel welcome.  You were our guidance counselor and your door was always open to us. You and Mrs. Fruth also opened your home and had all of us exchange kids for dinner. You two even took us to the haunted house for a tour, where I proceeded to squeeze your hand numb. Sorry, I never was good with the scary stuff. 
You are always very attuned to people around you and ready to try and help in any way you can. Thus it is no surprise that in the end of 1986 you noticed me being upset and sad and came to talk to me several times to try and cheer me up. This is how you learned I was looking for a new family to spend the rest of my time in Wauseon with. To my amazement you decided to talk with Mrs. Fruth and you both agreed to give me a home for the rest of my stay. You became my Dad and Mom and all of you my American family,  for which I am forever grateful.
 You are a great teacher and I know this since you taught me how to drive. You are ever generous and kind. You and Mom stood by me when I learned that my Pa back home had fallen ill. Several years later you two took the time to come to our wedding and you walked me down the aisle. Iimu and I will never forget how you both made our day even more special. My sister Anne-Mari and my Ma both found your door wide open when they came to visits during Anne’s exchange year in college.
You are Grandpa to our family and we all love you so much. We are so fortunate to have had you and Mom visit us here up North on your European tours.
I admire the way you love Mom and the whole family. You two are a dynamic duo, which is more than the sum of its parts, an inspiration to the rest of us.  I love watching you talk to complete strangers in the Washington D.C. subway, in Finland and everywhere, and see them respond to your true kindness and genuine interest. Seeing you truly listening people makes me want to strive to reach even a little bit of that in me also.
And so here we are, almost 30 years later and still creating new memories together. And all of this came to be because you noticed and heard a sad little Finn.  May your Birthday be filled with joy and laughter, dear friends and family. May your next European trip be right around the corner. The door is always open and ice available for you in our household!
 We might have a few states, an ocean and a couple of independent countries separating us but please be assured:
your Finnish extended family is celebrating with you! We all are so proud to call You our American Dad, Grandpa and friend.
Lots of hugs and kisses,
Minna / Iimu, Laura & Mikko / Anne-Mari / Pirkko and Jussi & all their friends

​Happy Birthday Grandpa! 
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Thank you for always being there for me, supporting me, loving me, and guiding me. You never fail to tell me how much you love me and to always be myself, no matter what. You and grandma drove many miles just to see me play. Whether if it was basketball,volleyball or softball, I could always count on you two sitting up in the bleachers, cheering me on. You always told me how proud you were of me after each game, despite the outcome. Thank you for sending me letters of encouragement, when I was about to give up on basketball. Whether it was driving to Bryan just to see me get nominated in the National Honor Society, watching me get pictures taken for any formal event, or sitting beside me during scholarship night, you are always making time for me, and supporting me. I cherish all the things you taught me, on and off the court.
As I'm typing this, I look at my prom picture of us last year, and I think of when you washed my heels off for me. How many grandpas do you know are willing to wash the bottoms of my shoes just because they had some dirt on them? I will cherish that memory forever.
Last year, the Wauseon football team celebrated the 1978's fall football team's 35 year anniversary of the NWOAL League title. Dad, Mom, Zack and I drove over and saw the ceremony on the field. I felt so proud of you and my dad. I loved seeing so many of your players adore you and thank you. I gleamed from the sidelines.I was so extremely proud to call you my grandpa.I loved seeing so many people being there for you. That is what the Fruth family is all about.
Love you, Rachel
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Larry and I were closest friends in High School at Napoleon.  He has always been a great leader" - always a competitive.  A great athlete!
Gene Stevens
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Coach and his staff always ran a great program that taught a lot of kids (me included) some great "life lessons" that I think are best communicated with team sports!
Tom Myer
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I always remember Coach Fruth coming to my Dad's (Wild Bill) funeral with the rest of the coaching staff.  He proceeded to tell me about Dad lambasting the entire staff during a night of bowling league (even though Dad wasn't bowling against the coaches!).  After 3 games of listening to Dad, when bowling was done, Dad yelled to the coaches "Hey, can one of you guys give me a ride home?  My car is in the shop!".  I was in tears!  
Barry Cahill