Bio

Woodrow “Woody” Gaba came to Missouri Valley College from East (Mo.) High School in Kansas City, Mo., but was born in nearby Houstonia, Mo. Woody was an outstanding two-sport athlete during his time at Missouri Valley College, exceeding on both the football field and baseball diamond. During his football career at Missouri Valley, Woody was a member of the 1936 MCAU football conference championship team, which won during Henri Godfriaux’s final season as head coach of the program. Woody played his final two seasons under Volney C. Ashford. After graduating from Missouri Valley in 1939, Woody made his biggest impact in sports by remaining in the community, and becoming a succesful high school boys basketball coach at Marshall (Mo.) High School.

Woody enjoyed a long career teaching social studies and coaching multiple sports at the high school. The biggest accomplishments of his coaching career came during his time leading the Marshall boys basketball program. Woody spent over a decade as the program’s coach from 1947-1961. When his coaching career came to an end, Woody had compiled an overall record of 276-79. His teams won eight conference championships in the MRVC, and finished as runner-up in the conference four times. His biggest accomplishment as coach of the boys basketball team was finishing fourth at the 1953 state championships, before the state split the sport into multiple classifications. After stepping down from the position as head coach of the boys basketball team, Woody became the head coach for the golf team at the high school, and later became the President of the MRVC.

Woody stayed active in the Marshall community as well through the rest of his life. He was very active with the First Christian Church in Marshall, serving as Deacon. Woody passed away December 21, 2003 at the age of 86.