Steven Nentrup; High School Shop Teacher

Steven “Nappy” Nentrup, a popular shop teacher at Thousand Oaks High School for 22 years and the school’s former varsity baseball coach, died Sunday at his Conejo Valley home of a heart attack. He was 49.

“It was a real trauma to the students--they had the crisis counseling team at the school on Monday morning,” said Dorothy Beaubien, a trustee with the Conejo Valley Unified School District and a longtime family friend. “I didn’t know anybody who didn’t like the man. He loved kids and loved people.”

The congenial, seemingly perpetually smiling Nentrup taught the lone metal shop program in the district, Beaubien said. At a time when other district schools saw their vocational metal shop programs fall by the wayside, the popularity of Nentrup’s classes continued unabated. Students at the school gave the bearded Nentrup his nickname, “Nappy.”

Indeed, the school has begun a Steven Nentrup Memorial Scholarship Fund. Contributions may be sent to the fund in care of Thousand Oaks High School, 2323 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks 91360.

Nentrup served four years in the Air Force and then went to college, earning an industrial arts degree from Cal State Long Beach in 1974. He was also a pitcher for the 49er baseball team.

Nentrup began his teaching career in 1975 in the Conejo Valley and never left. He coached the Thousand Oaks High varsity baseball team in 1981 and also served as a varsity assistant and junior varsity coach.

In addition, Nentrup was volunteer bullpen coach at Cal Lutheran University in 1995 and 1996.

CLU head baseball coach Marty Slimak called Nentrup a great guy who was a positive influence on the team and never had a bad word to say about anybody.

“He was one of the more stabilizing forces on our coaching staff,” Slimak said.

More recently, Nentrup was instrumental in organizing an upcoming benefit concert for Steven Koss, the 2-year-old Thousand Oaks boy who suffers from a rare disease that will require a costly bone marrow transplant.

Nentrup’s survivors include his wife of 29 years, Dianne; two daughters, Carrie and Stephanie, and a son, Jeff.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 480 W. Gainsborough Road, Thousand Oaks. A reception follows.