Engman Remembered as Friend to County Track

Earl Engman was remembered Tuesday by friends and co-workers as a giant on the Orange County high school sports scene.

Engman, a teacher, coach and administrator in the Santa Ana Unified School District for 38 years, died of cancer Monday in St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. He was 69.

“He’s probably had as big an impact on high school sports in Orange County as anybody,” said Bob Ross, recently retired as athletic director at Santa Ana High after having been a teacher, coach and administrator there since 1957. “It’s an era that’s gone.”

Engman worked as coach, official and referee, but perhaps made his biggest mark as a track and field meet manager.

“There wasn’t anybody around who could run a track meet like him,” Ross said. “He used to organize volunteers . . . ‘Earl’s Army,’ they were called. I was a baseball coach and would help out at track meets handing out awards, and it was nice. When you worked on something he organized, you were proud to be a part of it.”

Said Jim Knapp, Saddleback High track and field coach: “You can’t put into words the contributions he made to track and field over the years. Just this year, he did all of the managing and set up the State meet and he wasn’t healthy enough to be there.

“Then, they canceled it (permanently, at first, because of rain, before eventually rescheduling it) . . . I don’t think they would have done that had he been healthy enough. That’s the kind of person he was.”

He was also the kind of person who inspired his athletes to stay in touch. Three weeks ago, his health failing, a few runners Engman had coached--including Isaac Curtis, former tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals--gathered at his house to present him with a plaque when it became apparent he wouldn’t be able to attend the rescheduled State finals.

“Earl had a great impact on not only me, but on others,” said Eddie Steward, a sprinter on Engman’s 1967 Santa Ana High team. “He just had a way with his runners. You really wanted to perform for him.

“I think he will best be remembered for his big bear hugs. They were affectionate hugs, confidence hugs. They were an assurance that you could meet the task you were about to do.”

Engman is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; two daughters, Julie and Shelley; four grandchildren and his mother, Metta Engman.

A memorial service will be Sunday in the Santa Ana High gymnasium at 4 p.m. The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Earl Engman Memorial Track and Field Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1888, Costa Mesa 92628.