Former BGSU Standout Passes Away
February 10, 2004 | Football
Feb. 10, 2004
Massilon, Ohio - The weight room inside Washington High School was eerily quiet late Monday afternoon.
No machines clanged. No music blared. No grunts echoed from sweat-stained athletes pushing themselves to reach the levels of fitness and dedication Steve Studer had demanded and embodied.
Everything about the 3,000-square-foot room, from the weights he had ordered to the signs he had hand-painted, bore Studer's imprint.
And now it was silent in mourning for Studer, who died Monday morning at age 51 of a suspected heart attack. It was silent for the man whose chiseled frame had come to represent the strength and vitality so much of Massillon saw in itself.
Studer served as the school's coordinator of athletic weight training programs and a link to its glorious football past.
The Stark County Coroner's Office is expected to release a preliminary autopsy today.
``How in the world could that happen to someone like Coach Stu?'' Washington senior Billy Relford said.
``He was like Superman. There is probably not a person in Massillon who is more respected.''
Studer collapsed outside a first-floor attendance office before 8 a.m., three hours after lifting weights -- a predawn ritual he performed three times a week. He was pronounced dead at 8:24 a.m. at Massillon Community Hospital.
``He was the most physically fit person in the building,'' Principal Mark Fortner said.
Washington football coach Rick Shepas said Studer was about 5-foot-11, 215 pounds and had 13 percent body fat.
``He treated his body like a temple,'' Massillon Superintendent and longtime friend Al Hennon said.
News of his death stunned a community that associated his family name with Massillon pride and tradition.
Studer was a center on the 1970 mythical state championship team. He played at Bowling Green State University, where he earned honorable mention All-America status.
Studer's portrait hangs in the school's Hall of Champions.
His son, Dan Studer, became the fourth generation of family members to play at Washington and wear No. 55. Dan Studer, a student at Northern Michigan University, was a central character in the critically acclaimed 2001 documentary Go Tigers, an unflinching look at Washington football, in part because of family tradition.
Steve Studer's brother, Joe, who also played at Washington and Bowling Green, has coached high school football at New Philadelphia and Norton.
``Everyone who knows football around the state of Ohio knows the Studer name,'' Shepas said.
Shepas addressed the football team Monday afternoon. He contacted former Washington greats Rick and Chris Spielman, who were friends of Studer's.
Second recent tragedy
Fortner said the school's crisis intervention unit was set up for grieving students by midday. It marks the second death to strike the football program in five weeks.
Senior Matt Dottavio was killed in a car accident last month.
``We have been hit pretty hard,'' Hennon said. ``The kids are pretty devastated. They are in shock.''
Hennon and Shepas said Studer had shown no signs of ill health.
Studer was the football team's strength and conditioning coach, but worked closely with athletes in every sport, designing individual fitness programs.
The meticulous Studer kept the weight room immaculate and expected others to do likewise.
``If someone had used the weight room without his permission he knew it because he knew where everything was when he left,'' Shepas said.
Studer was highly artistic and decorated the walls with inspirational signs and paintings he created.
He led the school's powerlifting teams to state and national titles, but he covered those banners with paintings of school mascot Obie depicted playing different sports because he wanted the room to represent all athletes.
``He touched the lives of a lot of people at this school,'' said Hennon, who coached and trained with Studer. ``He was like a brother to me.''
Fitness angle
Studer arrived at the school three days a week at 5 a.m. for his own fitness routine, one often accompanied by Pink Floyd playing on the stereo. He could still easily squat more than 400 pounds, coaches said.
Everything about Studer had a fitness angle, even his green Ford F-150 pickup truck. Studer had a specially designed bumper attached so members of the football team could pull it during conditioning workouts resembling World's Strongest Man events.
``Steve Studer was the epitome of everything this school and football program stood for,'' assistant coach Paul Salvino said.
Studer recently had made the dean's list at Malone College, where he was pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in management. Marge Carlson, dean for continuing studies, said Studer was about one-third through a 54-week program that met one night a week.
Carlson plans to recommend Studer receive his diploma posthumously.
``The man was totally at peace with himself,'' Shepas said. ``He had his priorities straight and he was a dedicated family man.''
He is survived by his wife, Betsy, and their four children: Sam, Dan, Sarah and Joe. Joe is an eighth-grader at Longfellow Middle School and plays football.
``Joey will be given the chance to wear No. 55 when he gets to high school,'' Shepas said.
Funeral arrangements are pending at the Paquelet funeral home, 1100 Wales Road N.E.