Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
Three years ago, members of the MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball teams of the early '80s gathered at Wade Konschuh's acreage near Sundre for a reunion.
Several former players and their spouses showed up, demonstrating the immense respect they have for each other and for their leader – Team MVP in both 1980 and 1981.
Many returned for a much more sombre occasion last Saturday when a Celebration of Life was held at the Sundre Curling Club for Konschuh, who passed away on May 25 at the age of 57 after a courageous battle with colon cancer.
Family, friends and former Griffins teammates gathered to pay tribute to a man who touched many lives during and after graduating from what was then called Grant MacEwan Community College in 1981 with a Business Diploma.
"He was one of the most reliable people I've ever met in my life," said Ed Redden, MacEwan's athletic director from 1982-86, who also served as the Griffins women's volleyball coach. "You could always count on him. When Wade said he was going to do something, it would be done.
"The reason I'm so emotional is he was just like a son to me; I was so close to him."
Konschuh was one of four players who were recruited from Stettler to come to MacEwan in 1979. Friend Gene Stucky, who was a middle blocker on the Griffins during the 1979-80 season, joined him in making the trek from the central Alberta town.
"We had a lot of fun," he recalled of their time on the Griffins. "Wade was a good volleyball player. He was actually a really good athlete. He was into all kinds of sports – golf, baseball, curling, hockey or basketball and volleyball. He did a good job in any he went into."
Under then-head coach Erroll Miller, the Griffins went to the 1981 ACAC final but lost to Red Deer. As one of two starting setters – a formation that was used at the time – Konschuh was not only named Team MVP that season for the second-straight year, but he also earned MacEwan's male athlete of the year honour.
"He was a great volleyball player," said Konschuh's college roommate, Jak Meyer, who was the team's other starting setter. "He was an ACAC all-star that same year. He was just a great player and a great person – always making everybody laugh.
"I'm sure anybody you talk to you're going to get the same thing (about Wade): happy, funny, goofy. Anything to make people laugh and have fun. That was him in a nutshell."
Former teammate Ken Martin, a left-side power hitter with the Griffins from 1979-81 – the same years Konschuh played – remembered his friend as a true star on and off the court.
"Wade was one of the best guys I ever met," said Martin, who along with wife Erin Martin – a former Griffins women's volleyball player – remained close with Konschuh throughout their lives. "Just a first-class teammate – tenacious on the court. He never liked to see the ball hit the floor. He worked hard."
Longtime friend Tyler Blenkhorn echoed that tenacity in the eulogy he read at Konschuh's Celebration of Life.
"He was a natural athlete who excelled at everything he tried (of course, this was from Wade himself)," he said. "In high school, his focus was football and volleyball, but in the end, it was volleyball that led him to Grant Mac college.
"Wade learned tenacity, dedication, leadership and teamwork. It is these traits that defined his life."
Wade is survived by his wife Bev, children Parker and Becca, and many other relatives and friends.
The Konschuh family wanted to share a quote that Wade lived by: "Rich is not how much we have, who you are, or even where you are going. Rich is who you have beside you."
