Summerville Honors 59 Years of Service Marlin Heldstab: A Man of Compassion and Perseverance
A young Marlin Heldstab as a senior quarterback for Summerville High in 1952 at Ellis Field (Old Tuolumne Square).
By Brianna Willis
To some, a handshake is merely a frivolous act that passes by in nearly a second. For others, it personifies the genuine character of a man or woman, representing a person’s unaffected, true self more accurately than the ever-acclaimed “windows to the soul”.
So when he walked through the door and shook my hand, I knew this small-town hero, who is known for his gruff and assertive persona, would live up to the reputation that has followed him for more than 73 years.
While questioning how I was going to recover from the firm, gripping handshake, I had no idea that the towering 6’1” man who stood before me was about to teach me about the gentle, compassionate side of human nature. Looking back, there was something different about this man that set him apart from the cliché tough guy-his eyes were filled with benevolence and his manner, unmoved.
Sitting across from him, I was about to unearth the unadulterated truths that embody a man whom some believe is only capable of being austere and ornery. To my surprise, this exterior guise was merely a protective shell that held within its core a beating heart whose rhythm is unlike any other I have ever heard before.
Arther Ashe believed, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”
Marlin Heldstab, born into a simple family in the quaint town of McCloud, California, is a man whose heroism is just as Mr. Ashe describes – one of humility and service. Little did he know, his unadorned childhood would help shape him into a man whose resilience and fervor would inspire countless young men and women who stepped into his classroom or walked across a court or field.
By the time Marlin entered high school in Tuolumne, he had attended eight different grammar schools. Being the son of a sawyer in the sawmills, he and his family were continually on the move. Luckily for his friends and current family, Westside Lumber brought him to Tuolumne, where he would remain for the next 59 years.
While his life as a child may have surpassed any sense of normalcy, his teenage years brought about much hope and comfort for Marlin.
“I was a good Tuolumne kid,” asserted Marlin. “Everyone knew about everyone and everything. It was a mill town back then and there was no reason to go to Sonora. We had the best theatre in the county and a pool hall downtown.”
While Marlin’s teenage years may not have seemed out of the ordinary in his eyes, it was his persistence and drive that made him stand apart from the rest.
As a Summerville High School freshman in 1949, he played all sports, including basketball, football, baseball, and track. He excelled in all four and was the quarterback for the Varsity Bears his last two years of high school. His accomplishments helped him earn a spot at Modesto Junior College, where his perseverance was tested ten-fold.
While his successes as an athlete in high school were many, Marlin’s greatest accomplishment came in the form of a beautiful cheerleader with a compassionate, loving family who would take him in and love him as their own.
Erline Spinetto and Marlin were juniors when they went on their first date in his old ’39 Plymouth Coupe. He still remembers going to the show and knowing that she was the one he would marry. Less than two years later, in October of his first year at Modesto Junior College, he and Erline married. Soon after, they would give birth to their first little girl, Marla.
For the next fourteen years that followed his marriage, Marlin would drive to college three nights a week, work eight hours a day, remain an athlete, be a father to three children, and still be a supporting, loving husband to Erline.
“I never missed a quarter or semester of school,” stated Marlin.
He worked at Westside for almost ten years and then Kelley Motors, where he was a loyal employee for 39 years. While working, he went to night school at MJC and then Stanislaus State, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology 14 years later.
“Sociology was the only thing they offered at night, so I took it,” he said with a smile.
While Sociology may not have been the major of his choice, it did open many different doors. He applied for two or three jobs during the summer after the mill closed, and they offered him a job because of his college experience, which was a rarity in those days, he said.
Along with his bachelor’s degree, he worked towards a teaching credential and was able to teach ROP body and fender and coach at Summerville High School. For the next eighteen years, his weekdays consisted of: working from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kelley Motors, coaching from 3 to 6 p.m. and then teaching ROP from 6 to 10 p.m. three nights a week. The other two nights, Tuesdays and Fridays, he had either basketball games or football games, depending on what season it was.
Marlin and Erline Heldstab enjoying a meal in a restaurant during a trip to Chicago.
His son, Mitch Heldstab, has always esteemed his father as the epitome of perseverance because of this remarkable yearning to put his all into every aspect of his life.
He described his father’s work ethic as, “You got a job to do, you get it done and you do it to the best of your ability. If it doesn’t work out, you do it again.”
While the hours of dedicated service to his students, family, and athletes are remarkable, it is his passion that has inspired so many.
In his 30 years as the varsity football coach, four years as the football junior varsity coach, and 34 years as the freshman basketball coach, Marlin has only missed one game and three practices in football.
“Erline and I went to Europe for seven days during football season one year,” he said. “I had to miss some practices and a game.”
During all those years, he has also been on nearly every bus ride to games, aside from his absences when he was in Europe.
Some believe it is his competitive spirit that keeps him driven, as it is very important to Marlin that his teams win. Yet, when asked why he has always been so dedicated, he argued, “If you stay around these kids, you stay younger. Wanting to stay at Summerville is something that builds up in you. I couldn’t dream of coaching anywhere else.”
This zealous spirit has not only led him to perfect seasons and hundreds of wins, it has taught his students, family, and athletes how to be persistent and believe that they can accomplish whatever goal they set before themselves.
While Marlin has had much success as an athlete, coach, and teacher, it is in his family that he finds his true joy.
When asked about his favorite discovery in life, without hesitation and with a gentle smile, Marlin replied, “My greatest discovery is that I married into the family I did. I didn’t have much of a regular life and my father and mother-in-law took me in. My father-in-law, Albino, was great.”
Along with his wife Erline, Marlin’s father-in-law, who he describes as an “all-round good guy”, has been his greatest inspiration in life.
“We went hunting and fishing and did so much together,” he remembers. “He was good to me and could tell me what I was doing wrong without telling me I was doing it wrong.”
This sense of family, which was instilled in him by his father-in-law, carried over into his own family. His wife, two girls, and boy meant everything to him.
His son, Mitch, reveres him as the definition of “compassion”.
“He would do almost anything for his players, but he would do anything to protect his kids,” declared Mitch. “My greatest memory of him is when he used to introduce me to his friends, he would say, ‘This is my boy, Mitch’. I treasured it because it meant that I belonged to him; I wasn’t just his son, I was his boy.”
Weekends were special to Marlin, as it meant that he was able to spend precious time with his family. They would water ski, go hunting, and camping. He would also coach Mitch’s peewee baseball games, little league, and Pop Warner Football, which he started with his friend and fellow coach, Marlen Ronten.
This love of family has also carried over into the dozens of other family members who have blessed his life. His nine grandkids and seven and seven-eighths great-grandkids are what bring him his utmost joy in life.
“Your kids are good,” he said. “Your grandkids are really good. But your great-grandkids are the best you can get a hold of.”
When asked what his theory is on this truth of his, he asserted, “You don’t expect as much out of your grandkids as you do your kids. You’re a little smarter now and less demanding of them.”
It is no surprise that raising his family has been his greatest accomplishment in life.
This handshake, which reached far beneath the surface of this learned, accomplished man, definitely held a plethora of truths about a man who may seem tough on the exterior, yet has so much to teach every person he talks with.
It is clear that others also esteem Marlin Heldstab as a remarkable human being, which is evident by his every day conversations, and small, yet accumulated, inspirational acts of selflessness and kindness.
Still, when asked what his view of himself was, he smirked, “I’m a hell of a good guy. People think I’m gruff, but I’m really not. I got a little bit of heart.”
Mitch agreed, “He’s rough, he’s crass, he’s ornery, and sometimes mean. He can be all that, but I think it’s an exoskeleton, like a lobster; you break through it and you get all of the good stuff.”
Whether it be his tough persona, or his soft, compassionate side, there is no question that Marlin Heldstab’s life is an example to everyone.
Mitch believes, “Whatever he does, he does it one-hundred percent. There is no other way to describe it.
It is this perfect balance of compassion, perseverance, humility, and assertiveness that has given others the joy of calling him a hero.
According to Felix Adler, “The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.”
Marlin Heldstab’s illuminating spirit has blessed his family, his students, his athletes, and even complete strangers for more than 73 years. It has also been an integral, fighting force in Tuolumne and at Summerville High School for the past 59.
There is no doubt that his legacy will touch many more lives as he wakes up every morning and embraces each moment that he meets face to face.
This Friday night (October 3) Marlin will be honored during the half time ceremony at Summerville High School’s Homecoming football game for having graduated 55 years ago from Summerville High, for being attached to the most wins in history as a coach at the school, and for being a “superhero”, which is subsequently the theme of this year’s celebration. The Bears will be playing the Le Grande Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m.
