Remembering a SLUH Legend
Pictured: Paul Martel at his induction ceremony for the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
It is with great sadness the St. Louis University High School community learned of the passing of longtime teacher and coach Paul Martel on January 24, 2016. Please join us in praying for the repose of his soul, and please lift up his family.
Following is funeral service information:
Visitation on Thurs., Jan. 28 from 3-8 p.m. at Kutis
Kutis Funeral Home, Affton Chapel
10151 Gravois Road, St. Louis, MO 63123
(314) 842-4458
Funeral Mass on Fri., Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Catherine Laboure
9740 Sappington Road, St. Louis, MO 63128
Military honors immediately following the Mass at St. Catherine Laboure.
The family has requested that any SLUH alumnus who can, wear his letter jacket or letter sweater. Ties are optional and the family is encouraging a casual atmosphere.
ABOUT MARTEL
Former SLUH physical education teacher and football coach Paul Martel, who led SLUH’s only state championship football team in 1970, is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame for his outstanding high school coaching career.
For much of Martel’s 40-year coaching career, including one decade at Bishop Miege in Kansas City, he turned out remarkable results with a remarkably thin coaching staff.
Some of his most notable teams performed for Martel and his lone assistant, the late Ebbie Dunn, who went on to legendary status as SLUH’s head soccer coach.
Martel once made a pitch to the SLUH President for a third football coach. “Why do you need a third coach,” answered budget-conscious Fr. Gerry Sheahan, S.J. “Well, for one thing,” Martel answered, “Coach Dunn and I get worn out shaking hands with the other teams’ coaches before the games.”
If there was an overmatch, it usually went the other way. Martel’s head coaching career started at Immaculata High in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1948. He then went to Bishop Meige and SLUH. His coaching career concluded in 1988 when he took the St. Louis Gamblers to the semipro “Super Bowl” championship. Overall, Martel’s teams posted a 285-105-12 record.
As SLUH head coach from 1959-87, Martel recorded more than 200 wins and was selected as “High School Coach of the Year” for Missouri in 1973.
Resourceful and innovative, Martel led teams to the Missouri state high school playoffs six times, twice advanced them to the semifinals, and took the 1970 Jr. Bills to the Missouri Class 4A championship. SLUH was champion of the Bi-State Conference eight times in its 12 years of existence during Martel’s tenure, and his teams ranked in the Top 10 of the St. Louis Prep Poll 17 times.
After his head coaching career, Martel served as assistant at Washington University and Vianney High School.
“You know, coaches don’t get rich,” Martel once said. “Our wealth comes from having a part in so many lives. We’re touched by it.”
Pictured: Paul Martel at his induction ceremony for the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
It is with great sadness the St. Louis University High School community learned of the passing of longtime teacher and coach Paul Martel on January 24, 2016. Please join us in praying for the repose of his soul, and please lift up his family.
Following is funeral service information:
Visitation on Thurs., Jan. 28 from 3-8 p.m. at Kutis
Kutis Funeral Home, Affton Chapel
10151 Gravois Road, St. Louis, MO 63123
(314) 842-4458
Funeral Mass on Fri., Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Catherine Laboure
9740 Sappington Road, St. Louis, MO 63128
Military honors immediately following the Mass at St. Catherine Laboure.
The family has requested that any SLUH alumnus who can, wear his letter jacket or letter sweater. Ties are optional and the family is encouraging a casual atmosphere.
ABOUT MARTEL
Former SLUH physical education teacher and football coach Paul Martel, who led SLUH’s only state championship football team in 1970, is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame for his outstanding high school coaching career.
For much of Martel’s 40-year coaching career, including one decade at Bishop Miege in Kansas City, he turned out remarkable results with a remarkably thin coaching staff.
Some of his most notable teams performed for Martel and his lone assistant, the late Ebbie Dunn, who went on to legendary status as SLUH’s head soccer coach.
Martel once made a pitch to the SLUH President for a third football coach. “Why do you need a third coach,” answered budget-conscious Fr. Gerry Sheahan, S.J. “Well, for one thing,” Martel answered, “Coach Dunn and I get worn out shaking hands with the other teams’ coaches before the games.”
If there was an overmatch, it usually went the other way. Martel’s head coaching career started at Immaculata High in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1948. He then went to Bishop Meige and SLUH. His coaching career concluded in 1988 when he took the St. Louis Gamblers to the semipro “Super Bowl” championship. Overall, Martel’s teams posted a 285-105-12 record.
As SLUH head coach from 1959-87, Martel recorded more than 200 wins and was selected as “High School Coach of the Year” for Missouri in 1973.
Resourceful and innovative, Martel led teams to the Missouri state high school playoffs six times, twice advanced them to the semifinals, and took the 1970 Jr. Bills to the Missouri Class 4A championship. SLUH was champion of the Bi-State Conference eight times in its 12 years of existence during Martel’s tenure, and his teams ranked in the Top 10 of the St. Louis Prep Poll 17 times.
After his head coaching career, Martel served as assistant at Washington University and Vianney High School.
“You know, coaches don’t get rich,” Martel once said. “Our wealth comes from having a part in so many lives. We’re touched by it.”
