From college track star to WWII survivor to celebrated Jesuit Dallas coach and mentor: “I’ve had a good life. And I still do!”
DALLAS — On a momentous Tuesday night, Herb Sheaner’s family hung a massive banner from the front porch of his Lakewood home and decorated a birthday cake with candles numbered 101.
Looking down at the cake, he responded, “101? That’s ridiculous. Nobody gets that old.”
Sheaner and his family celebrated his 101st birthday Aug. 12 with pizza and cake and a gathering at his home to reminisce about a local legend and what makes him a military, sports, and family hero.
“Very proud,” his son Michael Sheaner said. “And a lot to be proud about.”
“There’s no one like him,” added his daughter, Kelly Secker. “He’s had a remarkable life.”
“I sure did know I was 101, and I feel good about that,” Herb Sheaner said. “I’ve had a good life. And I still do!”
He was drafted into the Army in 1943 while studying at Texas A&M. Deployed to Germany the next year, he landed on the front lines at the Battle of the Bulge.
“My whole infantry regiment got captured,” Herb Sheaner said of being surrounded by Germans on the fifth day of the battle.
He would spend the rest of the war as a POW until he and another soldier escaped in April of 1945. The Purple Heart and the Bronze Star are among several military commendations he received.
“That’s just war. That’s just the way it is,” Herb Sheaner said of the near-starvation they endured. “It happened so quick, I was a prisoner of war. I didn’t become a hero I was planning on being.”
But his family will tell you the “hero” part was just getting started.
During his military training, there had been brief stints on college football and track teams. Post-war, he ran at the University of Texas. And returning to Dallas after the war, in addition to starting his own successful insurance business, there was an invitation to join the track and field coaching staff at Jesuit Dallas.
“It was just a wonderful time in my life,” Herb Sheaner said.
A wonderful time that lasted from 1955 to 1975 and landed him in the Jesuit Dallas Hall of Fame, and to this day, the Jesuit-Sheaner Relays still bear his imprint and his name.
“Oh my goodness, I enjoyed it,” Herb Sheaner said.
“We’d be proud of him if he never accomplished anything,” his son Michael Sheaner said.
His children’s pride comes partly from his 69-year marriage to his sweetheart, Gloria.
“Do you like this fella?” Herb Sheaner asked during the family gathering.
“That one right there,” Gloria responded from across the room while pointing at her husband. “I love you,” she said as Herb laughed.
And their pride in their family hero comes not entirely from the soldier, the athlete or the celebrated coach that he was, but the Dad he is.
In October 2019, Michael Sheaner said his house was among those damaged in the tornado that ripped through northern Dallas that year. They walked away from the damage and toward a police roadblock.
“We come out of our neighborhood and there’s my dad standing across the street,” Michael Sheaner said.
Herb was 95 years old at the time and he had driven across town from his home in Lakewood to help his kids.
“He’d seen it on TV and came to get us,” Michael Sheaner said. “He’s my hero.”
“Well, he’s been my hero my whole life,” said daughter Patti Hastings.
A room at Herb Scheaner’s Lakewood home is dedicated to the memorabilia, awards, and commendations he’s received in his remarkably long life. The Sheaners appreciate that room and all it represents.
But mostly, they are thankful that their best gift is still with them: 101 years and counting.