by Shawn Nowlin
William Fleming High School (WFHS) has produced some of the greatest athletes to ever come through the Star City: Troy Daniels, Jermaine Hardy, Calvin Bannister, Pete Johnson, and Lee Suggs, just to name a few.
Regardless of the sport, few people are more synonymous with WFHS athletics than Coach Ed Thompson. For more than 25 years, the Roanoke native was the face behind Colonel athletics. Name the sport, and Coach Ed was likely heavily involved with it. Born on August 10, 1939, Thompson passed on March 30.
Roanoke City Public Schools issued the following statement the next day, “Coach Ed touched the lives of thousands of student-athletes, past and present, during his time supporting Colonel Nation. Ed, you will be missed, but never forgotten!”
It was the late Fleming football coach George ‘Kila’ Miller who allowed Thompson to become part of the Colonel family. As he would often say, “In 1997, Coach Miller got so used to seeing me around that one day he just put me in charge of painting the lines on the football field. I ended up exceeding his expectations and the rest was history.”
Integrity meant everything to Coach Ed. More than a coach, he devoted his life to helping countless student-athletes reach their full potential, both on the field of competition and in real life.
Coach, explained Marty Bishop, went over and beyond to give every player the attention to detail that they needed. He added, “For 34 years, I knew Coach Ed and I never once heard him say a curse word. All of the things he did for Fleming were unreal. From pushing players in practice to doing laundry, he truly did it all. He regularly provided breakfast for kids who didn’t have any food at home. He was the Godfather to thousands of teens and coaches and will forever be a pillar in our hearts, minds, and souls.”
One of eight children, when Thompson was in elementary school, his father died of food poisoning. When his mother learned she had breast cancer a few years later, Thompson and his siblings were placed in the foster care system.
At Lucy Addison High, Thompson dropped out and joined the military to help support his family. After a four-year stint in the Army, he returned to Roanoke.
Thompson’s first job was as a washer at Lendy’s Restaurant where he stayed for 13 years. After that chapter in his life concluded, he went to work for the City of Salem, retiring after 31 years of service in the sanitation and street department.
For Champ Hubbard, one of his favorite memories of Coach Ed came on the football field. Elaborating on why, he explained, “I remember when myself and four other coaches were appointed to do the lines on the football field. I struggled to get the lines straight and Ed came up to me and said, ‘Give me that damn spray can.’ As he jerked it away, I responded, ‘You don’t know what you are doing.’ He simply replied, ‘How do you actually think the lines got on the field since Coach Miller was here?’”
A public viewing was held on April 7 at Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Six days later, a military graveside service commenced at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin, Va.
Countless former Colonel students as well as staff personnel, colleagues, supporters, athletes and friends have all flooded social media with memories and pictures of Coach Ed, much to the delight of his family.
