Frank Trautz; coached 2 sports at Haddon Twp.
As head football coach at Haddon Township High School in the mid-2000s, Frank L. Trautz worked the field like a chessboard.
As head football coach at Haddon Township High School in the mid-2000s, Frank L. Trautz worked the field like a chessboard.
"He was the classic chess player in dealing with his offense," Nelson Epley recalled.
If the opposing defense "gave us a certain look, he enjoyed tweaking around," countering with a formation of his own.
"We coached together for close to 20 years" as assistant football coaches at Haddon Township, Epley said, and then "I coached under him when he was a head coach."
Now the athletic director there, Epley said Mr. Trautz was a quiet taskmaster whose "best trait was, he trusted his coaches."
On Thursday, Nov. 5, Mr. Trautz, 56, of Audubon, Camden County who retired in 2014 as a Haddon Township history teacher and baseball and football coach, died of complications from intestinal problems at home.
Raised in Collingswood, Mr. Trautz graduated from Collingswood High School in 1977, earned a bachelor's degree in history at what is now McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., in 1981, and later earned a master's in education from Marygrove College in Detroit.
Mr. Trautz was the quarterback of his high school and college football teams, his wife, Barbara, said.
And for a time, she said, he was also the Haddon Township High baseball coach. She said he enjoyed coaching both sports because their strategies were so different.
In 1995, the South Jersey Baseball Coaches Association honored him as coach of the year, she said.
Mr. Trautz also played bass guitar for a dozen years with a local band, Pure Joy.
An American history buff who visited several Civil War battlefields, his wife said, he especially enjoyed taking his students on trips to Washington.
Besides his wife of 29 years, Mr. Trautz is survived by his mother, Sherry, son Frank G.; daughter Katie; and two sisters.
A visitation was set from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Foster-Warne Funeral Home, 820 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, before a noon prayer service there.
Donations may be sent to the HTHS Athletic Varsity Club, 406 Memorial Ave., Westmont, N.J. 08108.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.fosterwarnefuneralhome.com.
610-313-8134 @WNaedele