One day at lunch at Edell’s home in Howard County (Md.), then-Virginia coach Dom Starsia was with us. I asked him if he was recruiting in Baltimore that day. “No,” he said. “Just came up to see Dick.”
Just drove 150 miles to see Dick? Yes, and so did many others. One day having lunch at Dick’s home, a lunch served by his loving and heroic wife Delores, the coaches in attendance included Starsia, Jim Adams, Dave Urick and Bob Scott — all of them National Lacrosse Hall of Famers.
Tony Seaman, another coach who attended the get-togethers at Edell’s home, put it perfectly when he explained why he came: “You always leave with more than you came with.”
Scottie (Bob Scott) was another one. I played on the team at Hopkins with him and now, here we were, some 60 years later, commiserating with an old friend and fallen warrior.
For the final three or four years of Bob Scott’s life he was no longer driving, so I drove him and he was always saying, “Let’s go out and see Edell in a week or so.” So we did, continually, and we always hated to leave. I remember telling my wife where I was headed one day and with whom and I told her, “I love those two guys.” And now they’re both gone.
I’m so glad Linda and I drove up to West Point last September to see Dick Edell installed in the Athletic Hall of Fame at a black-tie dinner there. Though I’d been to the U.S. Military Academy several times, I was reminded anew what an impressive place it is.
Later, back in Howard County, Dick confessed to me, “That night at West Point, plus our wedding day and the days our children were born, were the greatest days of my life.”
Bill Tanton retired in 2017 after working 21 years as columnist for Lacrosse Magazine. He previous covered the sport as an editor with the Baltimore Sun.