Edgar Atzenhoffer

Edgar Wayne Atzenhoffer, known to many as “Coach,” “Coach Atz” or “Pop,” of Sinton, Texas and most recently Corpus Christi, Texas, passed away on February 26, 2022 at the age of 88 surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife, Laura Lynn; his children, Steve (Mary Beth) Atzenhoffer and Debbie (Terry) Hesseltine; as well as eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

He was born to Estelle and E.H. Atzenhoffer on September 24, 1933 on the family farm in Cuero, Texas. He was a lifelong Lutheran and faithful follower of his Savior, Jesus Christ. Wayne graduated from Cuero High School and went on to play baseball and football at Victoria Junior College and Texas Lutheran College. It was at Texas Lutheran that he met the love of his life, Laura Lynn (Pietsch) on a blind date for a Valentine’s Day dance. Wayne and Laura were engaged by Easter and were married on July 2, 1955. There was nothing quite like celebrating your love for each other with a lit-up sky every Fourth of July. Wayne honorably served in the United State Navy from November 1955 through August 1957 and went on to graduate from Southwest Texas State University in 1962.

Wayne began his coaching and teaching career at Mathis Junior High from 1960 to 1967 but spent the bulk of his career being a defensive football coach and head baseball coach at Sinton High School from 1967 to 1989. One of the highlights of his career was coaching the 1975 Sinton Pirate Baseball Team (and his son) to the AAA Texas High School Baseball Finals. On the march to the finals, they had the experience of playing in the Houston Astrodome for the Regional championship. Wayne and his baseball teams collected numerous district titles throughout his coaching career. He spent the rest of his career at King High School from 1989 through 1992. Beyond just being a coach, Wayne also taught driver’s ed and social studies and was passionate about raising up young men on and off the field. He often told his grandchildren a story that one day, when he was driving his red Colt to school, the wheels came off and rolled right past him down the road, but his players came trotting out, picked up the car and carried him and the car right into the parking lot. Wayne sure could tell a story—it’s unlikely you could only talk to him for a minute, because he sure loved to visit.

Wayne was a wonderful and devoted father and husband. He loved watching Steve play sports and Debbie tossing her batons on the field. His love for Laura was truly special, though. It was unlikely that you ever saw Wayne without Laura, or Laura without Wayne. He spent his life loving Laura and teaching us all what it means to love someone more than yourself.

After retirement, Wayne and Laura went on to travel the world with numerous trips to Europe and a trip to Alaska. It was also at this point that Wayne and Laura began volunteering and continued sharing the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to change hearts, transform lives and impact their community. Wayne volunteered with Kairos Prison Ministry, Via de Cristo (Way of Christ) Ministry and Christus Spohn Hospital (Shoreline). He volunteered at Spohn Shoreline well into his 80’s and one of his favorite parts of being a volunteer at Spohn was helping chemotherapy patients relax while they were getting treatment. He was known for bringing coffee, grabbing blankets and telling a good story to keep the patients’ minds at ease.

Speaking of stories, Wayne loved to tell stories of his children and grandchildren to anyone that knew him. He truly was a family man and loved having his family together. When you were talking to Wayne, he might over-embellish some of the finer points of the story, but it’s only because his love for his family was so great. There were no brighter stars in the sky than his kids and grandkids and you could always find him at one of their events.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 4th from 5 to 7 p.m. at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home in Beeville, Texas. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 5th at 10 a.m. at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Orange Grove, Texas, burial will follow at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Cuero, Texas at 3:00 p.m.

Pallbearers will be Robert Meier, Kyle Watson, Travis Southard, Jacob Atzenhoffer, Gene Kasprzyk and Emiliano Alaniz.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to: Christus Spohn Cancer Center-Shoreline. https://www.christushealth.org/services-treatments/cancer-care or Kairos Prison Ministry International https://www.kairosprisonministry.org/