Frosty Westering

Former PLU head football coach Forrest "Frosty" Westering has died. He was 85. For more than four decades Frosty was a college football coach. From 1972 to 2003 he led Pacific Lutheran University to four national titles. Frosty's 305 career wins rank him 9th among all college football coaches, but the wins didn’t make the man. For Frosty, excellence on the field was only a by-product of his overall life philosophy. "I’m not going to use fear, I’m going to use caring, I’m going to use love, actually," he said. "It shows you can do it the right way and be successful in this world, that’s the beauty of it,” said Scott Westering. Frosty emphasized a double-win theme, victory on the scoreboard and the satisfaction of playing to one's personal potential. "We've taken PLU here, and made it a place and made it a place where these guys feel good about being, and they've done better than they've ever done in their life,” he said. “Stuff that ‘the world’ looks at as, ‘No, that’s not the way it works,’ I think he said ‘No, there’s a better way,’” said Paul Hoseth, who was on the hiring committee that brought Frosty to PLU. Hoseth would also coach alongside Frosty for 24 years. “You never saw anyone at PLU wear a No. 1 jersey,” said Hoseth. “You never saw anyone raise a No. 1 finger after a national championship game. Little things, but things that said ‘This is different, we’re not going to fall prey to the scoreboard being our god and feeling like that’s all there is to life.” Hoseth's son Karl was a ball boy for the team growing up and quarterbacked the Lutes in the early 90s. “There’s all kinds of Frosty stories, he’s such a huge personality and some of the things he taught people, they’re using in all kinds of different walks of life, but just so funny in terms of how he would relate with people and some of his clichés and his mannerisms,” he said. No longer we will have the chance to watch the legend walk back on the field, but his words will stand the test of time. “Cast your bread upon the waters, it’ll come back with strawberry jam.” “When you love, it comes back to you in so many ways.” “What can I say except we make the big time where we are.” All of his sayings aside, Frosty simply lived his life by three F's: Faith, family and football, in that order. And while his love for the Lord guided his every action, for those that knew him best, it's his family Frosty would spend countless hours talking about. He coached his sons, and grandsons, and while Scott Westering now carries on his legacy as the head coach at PLU, it's Donna Belle Jones Westering, his wife, who he met in grade school that was always by his side. "It's just been a great adventure all these years and we've loved every minute of it,” Frosty said. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at Life Center, 1717 So. Union Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98405. There will be an informal "Afterglow" following the service at 4:00 p.m. at Olson Auditorium at Pacific Lutheran University. Gifts and donations in lieu of flowers should be directed to the Frosty and Donna Westering Legacy Football Fund at the Lutheran Community Foundation. Checks should be made payable to Lutheran Community Foundation, and mailed to 625 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 1500, Minneapolis, MN 55415