By Eric Vodden Appeal-Democrat

Former Yuba College baseball coach Gary Engelken - affectionately known as "Coach E" to hundreds of 49ers players over the years - died Tuesday morning following a long illness.

Engelken, 63, had recently returned from a week in Rideout Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for ongoing kidney problems, and died in his East Marysville home.

His wife, Judy, said her husband had come home thinking he was going to have surgery to enable him to continue with dialysis treatment, but that he died of an apparent heart attack. He had a heart transplant six years ago.

Last year, as first-base coach for the Feather River Mudcats of the Western Baseball League, Engelken would frequently hear shouts of "E" as he walked slowly to or from the coaching box between innings. Even if he didn't see who called out, Engelken would lift a hand in response.

"The pride we feel for him is amazing," said his daughter, Mary Lynn Larrigan. "We know he left this world having done amazing things. If it wasn't baseball, he would have touched lives in some other way."

A memorial service open to the public will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the family home at 227 E. 25th St., Marysville.

Judy Engelken said her husband always clung to the hope that a donor could be found for a kidney transplant.

"As sick as he was these last few months, he was saying that maybe it was a good thing that the (Feather River) Fury isn't going to be here this year," she said. "He was saying that it would give him a year to get better so he could be the first-base coach again."

Engelken coached Yuba College baseball teams for 25 years beginning in 1967 and had a record of 517-355. It stands as one of the best California community college records in history and the third best winning percentage (.593) of all time.

Engelken coached an estimated 383 players who went through the Yuba College baseball program. A long athletic career included playing football and baseball at Chico State, playing semipro ball for the Marysville Giants and most recently coaching the men's and women's golf teams at Yuba.

In addition, Engelken held a number of positions as an instructor and scout for the Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins organizations.

"I can't tell you how many ballplayers still came back to see him," said Judy Engelken. "They write to us and call - former students from everywhere. He was just unbelievably popular."

It was just over two months ago that Engelken was inducted into the Yuba College Athletic Hall of Fame. He was already a member of the Northern California Old-timers Hall of Fame and the Community College Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

"He always said that one of the things he wanted to do was give a big thank you to the men who played for him," Judy Engelken said. "He loved coaching and teaching at Yuba. It was a wonderful life.

"He always said, 'I never did tell any of them, but I would have done it for free," she said.

Yuba City High baseball coach Jim Stassi played for Engelken at Yuba College in 1979-80 and was a 49ers assistant coach in 1985. He said the Honkers, who were coached by Engelken in the 1960s before he began at Yuba, are dedicating the remainder of this season to him.

"The one thing he always instilled in us was that you can go out and play the game and you will always have a chance to have a good game or a bad game," Stassi said. "But there is always one thing you can control and that is to play hard. There is no substitute for hustle and that is what I try to instill in my players.

"Coach E taught you how the game is supposed to be played," he said. "But he also taught the little things it takes to become a great player."

Dennis Gallagher, an assistant for the East Nicolaus High baseball team, played for Engelken in 1969-70 and said he "is probably one of the most special people I have been around in my life."

"He was the kind of coach who gained your respect just because he knew the game so well," he said. "He wasn't only your coach, but also your friend. But if he wanted to make you tow the line, he could come down on you pretty hard. When he did, there wasn't any doubt that he was right."

Yuba College Athletic Director Rod Beilby was the baseball coach at Consumnes River College in Sacramento and faced off against Engelken's Yuba teams. While Engelken was passionate about baseball, Beilby said he also kept the game in perspective.

"We often had close games, but I remember one in which I think we hit about six home runs and had 20-something hits," Beilby said. "But Gary had the type of personality where there was no sour grapes. His first comment was 'geez coach, let us check your bats.'"

Lou Menghini, who coached wrestling at Yuba in the 1960s, said that one year, four 49er wrestlers qualified for the state meet in San Diego, but that he was told there was no money in the budget to send them. He said Engelken sacrificed funding from his baseball budget to enable the wrestlers to make the trip.

"I knew he took the money out of his budget," Menghini said. "That is the kind of guy he was and I have never forgotten it."

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