Bob Thomas, a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer, was one of the cornerstones of the Spring Valley community. He coached and taught in the district from 1963-87, tackling coaching in every sport from football, to track, to basketball, and he even was the first coach of the wrestling team. His accomplishments on the field are as great as it gets, but off the field he was just as generational.

“He was just so well-respected by his players and the family of his players. He always put other people before himself, and he was always going to do the right thing,” Thomas’ grandson, former UWRF defensive back and current UWRF football assistant coach Aaron Borgerding said. “He was demanding, and he was going to make you work for it, but he always had the right thing in mind. It was all about the players’ experience and a common goal of teaching life lessons.”

With each sport he coached, he taught his team in ways that are applicable to life in general. In college at UW-Superior, Thomas played both basketball and baseball. Through the 1980s and 90s, he served as the head wrestling coach and assistant football and baseball coach at UW-Stout. He has so many great milestones including a 49-game winning streak with Spring Valley football along with a 1978 State championship, coaching two individual wrestling State champions and becoming the winningest wrestling coach in Stout wrestling history.

When Thomas passed away on March 15 at age 88, Spring Valley was joined by Stout, UWRF and local high schools like Somerset and Elk Mound in lighting up their football fields in his honor the very next Friday night.

“It’s just a culminating thing of how much he meant to more than just the town of Spring Valley. The respect he gained from other coaches and other conference schools,” Borgerding said. “Even just his name being spread around this area of just what a great human he was, and a great coach, grandfather, father.”

Borgerding said the honor especially meant a lot to Thomas’ wife of 66 years, Helen.

“Her traveling to all those different fields being a visitor, but then at the end it was his home field almost when they kept the lights on for him,” Borgerding said.

With Aaron being a UWRF grad and his brother Sean being a Stout grad, it meant a lot that their schools kept the lights on in their grandfather’s honor.

Thomas’ family tree has gone on to great success in sports and life, and it all started back in Bob and Helen’s backyard. Borgerding remembers the grandkids getting into football and Wiffle Ball games, with Thomas at the heart of the game each time, whether it was as the all-time quarterback or all-time pitcher.

“He’s the one that taught everyone how to swing a bat,” Borgerding said. “It all kind of stemmed from him and my grandma being the ones to show us, and not ever push us into anything, but just show us how great sports can be and how they change lives.”

Between Thomas’ children Mark Thomas, Julie Snell, Sarah Bobert and Jane Borgerding, grandchildren Lindsay Thomas, Leslie Larson, Mitch Thomas, Kara Monahan, Zak Snell, Bailee Bobert, Cody Bobert, Sean Borgerding, Aaron Borgerding, and great grandchildren Kennedy and Keaton Monahan, Ty Thomas, Keason, Nash and Sierra Thomas, Myah and Braxton Evans, his brother Larry Thomas, sister-in-law Audrey Flatland, the rest of his family, friends, former players, the Spring Valley community and many others throughout the area, Thomas will be remembered for the cornerstone he was in western Wisconsin.

One of Borgerding’s fondest memories of Thomas came back when he was in fifth grade. After receiving a basketball for Christmas, he was excited to get into the Spring Valley Elementary gym and learn how to shoot a jumpshot with his grandfather.

“I was all excited to go work with Grandpa, and I walked in with my basketball, and I took a shot and he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re not going to need that,’” Borgerding said.

Thomas grabbed a piece of paper out of his notebook, crumpled it up, gave it to Borgerding and had him practice release point and aim in front of a door frame for about two hours.

“First 10 minutes I was like this is so dumb, what are we doing Grandpa,” Borgerding said. “After two hours, he gave me a basketball and he goes, ‘Alright, take a shot.’ So, I dribbled into it, released it at the right time, followed through and I made it.”

Thomas will always be remembered as a winning coach, but his impact on the people around him was what made him a legend.

“A lot of people know him for his stories of being super demanding, but he also had a sweet spot for the grandkids, and he’s always just been such a great grandpa to all of us, and super supportive,” Borgerding said. “He was at every single one of my events, and if he wasn’t at one of my events, he was at one of my cousins’.”