Merv Habenicht first endeared himself to Bettendorf and the Quad-Cities straight out of college more than 50 years ago.

In that time, hes touched dozens upon dozens of lives as an educator, a football coach and a quality human being.

Some four months after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis a disease which causes scar tissue to overwhelm lungs preventing oxygen from being transferred to the bloodstream Habenicht was moved into hospice care last week.

Also afflicted with Alzheimers disease for the past year, the 77-year-old Habenicht is expected to live for another week or two. Evelyn Habenicht, his wife of 58 years, encourages friends to come and express their appreciation and love.

The response has just been fantastic, Evelyn Habenicht said. And Im not surprised.

Merv Habenicht won 228 games, five state championships and 10 Mississippi Athletic Conference titles in 29 seasons as head football coach at Bettendorf. He resigned following the 1999 season when he retired after 40 years of teaching at age 65.

Since exiting as coach, Habenicht continued to be a visible figure in the high school football community. He served stints as an assistant coach at Davenport Assumption, United Township and Davenport North in the few years following his departure from Bettendorf. In 2007, he served as a volunteer assistant with the Quad-City Steamwheelers.

Even through last fall, the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame inductee regularly attended the weekly Davenport Grid Club luncheons.

To anyone who knew him, Habenicht was about much more than wins, though he didnt especially like losing.

When kids needed a father figure, that was what he did, said John Lavelle, who assisted Habenicht from 1976 to 1996. Sometimes it used to drive us crazy because hed get kids out for football that didnt fit our mold.

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Bettendorf coaching legend in hospice care