Anytime a Baldwin track athlete forgot to bring something to a meet or even just needed a fan to cheer them on, Coach Ed Helbig was there to help, junior Zach Lieu said.

“At races, if you ever didn’t have a jacket or food, Helbig always had you taken care of,” Lieu said. “Even if you didn’t know him, you knew you always had someone in your corner no matter what.”

He was “like our grandpa,” he said. “If there were ever no family members there to support you at races, he was there for you.”

The week before school began, Helbig, 72, died after a year-long fight with metastatic esophageal cancer. Helbig had graduated from Baldwin before going on to teach for 42 years throughout the school district. He coached for 49 years total, working with the football, wrestling, and track and field teams.

A week earlier, Baldwin alum and former sports performance coach Edward Wietholder, 58, had died following his battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

For Wietholder too, the Baldwin connections were strong. He met his wife and many friends during his years as a Baldwin student, said Jake Wietholder, one of his two sons.

“At the funeral, his friends and Pastor Brent Furlong mentioned how tough Baldwin people are. He certainly embodied that toughness throughout his whole life,” Jake Wietholder said.

Since 1998, Wietholder had operated his gym, Strength, Fitness & Speed, where he trained many local athletes. One of those athletes is junior Ethan Helbling, who has worked out at Wietholder’s gym since he was 12, working on his baseball and hockey skills.

“He cared for all of his employees there and he cared for all the kids who came there and worked out,” Helbling said.

Jake Wietholder said that not only did his father motivate students, he also did the same with his own children.

“He motivated my brother and I so much that we would shovel snow off a local basketball court to practice,” he said. “We would come back to the car, warm up a bit, and do it again.”

History teacher and Assistant Football Coach Christopher Reilsono met Wietholder through their mutual commitment to athletics. In the 10 years that they had known each other, Reilsono said he could see a difference in the athletes who had trained with Wietholder.

“Coach (Wietholder) was the absolute best and a constant source for helping to enrich others with the knowledge of the proper way of training,” he said.

Helbig, meanwhile, played a pivotal role in his decades of coaching Baldwin track and cross country teams. He is in the Baldwin alumni and athletic halls of fame.

Aimee Maher, Helbig’s daughter, said he devoted his life to the Baldwin community and its track athletes.

“He loved planning the meets, deciding what to do at practice, and talking to and becoming friends with all of the coaches,” Maher said. As for the athletes, Helbig liked “connecting with them, mentoring them, pushing them to be their best.”

Maher and her family struggled to decide whether to keep his funeral private, since Helbig influenced such a large number of people. It was kept a private event because of Helbig’s wishes for a simple service.

“He finally looked at peace – no longer fighting his cancer battle, no longer suffering or being in pain. He was at peace all decked out in his purple Baldwin gear with a brand new pair of Asics shoes,” Maher said. “We figured he has new surroundings to run laps around up there, so he might as well have a new pair of running shoes.”

In addition to his dedication to his career, he was also a devoted father to his two daughters.

“He was just the best ‘girl dad.’ He braided our hair, he watched our fashion shows, he traced our faces when we couldn’t fall asleep, and he helped us with our homework,” Maher said. “He snuggled with us when we watched a movie, he helped mend our broken teenage hearts, and he told us how beautiful we were. He was just the best.”

Social studies teacher Natalie Grattan knew Helbig since her childhood.

“I was friends with his daughters, he was my coach, and I’ve known him as a teacher. My dad and he worked together, so I’ve known him in that capacity, and then years later I got to be a teacher with him. And he’s my friend,” Grattan said.

“Everybody in the community knew him,” Grattan said. “That’s something very special that not many people can say.”

The day after the Baldwin community learned that Helbig had died, all of the teams at a cross country scrimmage held a moment of silence to honor him. The Baldwin runners tried to find comfort in one of Helbig’s favorite sayings.

“Everyone was very emotional, but they used their emotions and pain to ‘Get one day better’ at running,” Lieu said.

Then at the Red, White & Blue Classic Invitational, there was a slideshow to honor Helbig at the finish line. Purple wristbands with the ‘Get one day better’ motto were sold, with proceeds going to his family.

Coach Richard Wright worked with Helbig for decades, building up the Baldwin cross country and track and field programs.

Wright said Helbig was instrumental in a key change in the Baldwin Invitational, the largest track event in the area. Previously only a school’s top two athletes from event could compete at the invitational, but Helbig pushed to expand that to the top three.

“His typical approach was that everyone should have a chance to run. He would go over whether they won or lost and give them a hug and congratulate them,” Wright said. “Their betterment made us a better team.”

WPIAL Chief Operating Officer Vince Sortino knew Helbig since the late 1980s and talked with him weekly. Sortino and Helbig were both coaches and teachers at Baldwin, and when Sortino became athletic director at Baldwin, Helbig was one of the coaches he worked with.

Sortino said Helbig had “touched many lives in such a positive way” during the many years he was in Baldwin.

Principal Shaun Tomaszewski met Helbig when was hired in 2019. The principal said he wanted to learn from respected community members, like Helbig, to understand how to best connect with the school.

“I had heard he was a really great person and had a lot of impact on the high school, so we set up a meeting” and talked, Tomaszewski said.

Baldwin Athletic Director Anthony Cherico had known and worked with both Helbig and Wietholder.

He said Helbig was dedicated to not just Baldwin athletes, but to everyone he knew.

“The thing about Ed Helbig is that it goes beyond Baldwin. He’s had an impact on the whole WPIAL, he’s had an impact on the entire state of Pennsylvania, the entirety of track and field,” Cherico said. “He’s the person that everyone across the state calls if they have a question. He’s the first phone call somebody would make.”

Cherico knew Helbig for 26 years. When Cherico was just starting out as athletic director, Helbig helped to guide him.

“He took care of so much so I didn’t have to,” Cherico said.

Cherico met Wietholder through his son, Jake, when Jake joined a basketball camp at South Park. At the time, Cherico was South Park’s head basketball coach and ran the camp.

Years later, Wietholder would help Cherico with Baldwin middle school athletes, talking with him about how the kids could improve and grow.

The district is recognizing the contributions of Helbig and Wietholder. To commemorate both men, there was a moment of silence at the first two home football games.

To honor Helbig, members of some sports teams, including cross country and cheerleading, are wearing periwinkle ribbons on their uniforms, since that is the national color for esophageal cancer.

Additionally, the district plans to host a celebration of Helbig’s life on Oct. 26 in the football stadium.

“We want everybody to come out and celebrate him. Whether it’s a current athlete of his, or former athletes, people outside of the Baldwin school district, or track coaches across the region — everyone is going to be invited to come and honor him,” Cherico said. “I think it’s going to be special.”

The district also plans to rename the track at the football stadium in his honor.

“He had an impact on so many — not only students’ lives but assistant coaches, community members, and parents,” Cherico said. “It’s well deserved, and it’s something we have not taken lightly.”

For the student athletes, friends, and loved ones of Helbig and Wietholder, the goal is to carry on their work.

Wietholder’s son Jake intends to “keep the legacy going” by taking over the gym using his degree in exercise science and doctorate in physical therapy, he said.

For Wright, this means maintaining the devotion to the track and field team that he and Helbig shared for so many years.

“I’m going to try and carry on as much as I possibly can, and make sure that everything is done the way that he wanted it done,” Wright said.

Starting the new school year with the loss of two key people from the Baldwin athletic community has been difficult, Cherico said.

“I wish there was a way I could thank them for everything that they did. I think they know they were appreciated while they were here with us, and I think the only thing they cared about was kids,” Cherico said. “That’s how you last, that’s how you have impact – because you can’t fake it. Everyone knew that it was kids first and everything else second.”

This story was originally published on Purbalite on September 12, 2024.