Ralph Jon Zwaschka

Ralph Jon Zwaschka was born on January 11, 1949 in Comfrey, MN to Alfred & Evone (Anderson) Zwaschka. He attended St. Paul's Catholic School and graduated from Comfrey Public School in 1967. Ralph believed in higher education and was a Southwest State-Marshall, MN graduate and received a degree in Health/Phy.Ed in 1972. He continued his studies at Mankato State Univ. part time and received a master's degree in Guidance/Counseling in 1976. He began his teaching career at St Mary's Schools in Sleepy Eye from 1974 to 1976 and in 1977 began a 30 year career at Sleepy Eye Public retiring in 2007. Sports were Ralph's passion in life. To be more specific, he lived to be a coach or manage a sports team. After playing football and baseball in high school, he played two years of amateur baseball for the Stark Longhorns in 1969 and 1970. He then went to Leavenworth and revived their amateur baseball program and was a player/manager from 1971 until 1982. Ralph continued his coaching and became the Sleepy Eye Indians amateur baseball manager from 1983 until 2003. He took his team to 11 State tournaments including a 2nd place finish in 1986 and a 3rd place finish in 1995. Ralph was also the Sleepy Eye Indians High School head football coach from 1978-1985 and during this time was conference champions twice. Currently, Ralph was the Vice President of the East Tomahawk Amateur Baseball League and had served on the Sleepy Eye Baseball Assoc from 1983-2003. He is survived by his sister, Ruth (David) Englin of Comfrey, nephew, Andrew Englin of Comfrey, nephew, Garret (LeAnn) Englin of Sioux Center, IA and children Jenna, Carli & Kayle, niece, Kate (Rick) Thurston of Sioux Falls, SD and children Taylor and Asher, special friends Lee and Loren Havemeier. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alfred and Evone. *The family would request memorial gifts be made to the donors choice in lieu of flowers. Visitation 1 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Monday, January 25, 2016 Sturm Funeral Home, Sleepy Eye Chapel 301 - 3rd Ave. S.W. Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, United States 56085 Visitation 2 10:00 am - 11:00 am Tuesday, January 26, 2016 St. Paul's Catholic Church, Comfrey 218 Field St. N Not Given, Minnesota, United States 56019 Service Information 11:00 am Tuesday, January 26, 2016 St. Paul's Catholic Church, Comfrey 218 Field St. N Not Given, Minnesota, United States 56019 Interment Information St. Paul Catholic Cemetery N Hwy 258 Comfrey, Minnesota, United States 56019