Edward Dahler, 86, of Hillsboro died at 8:16 p.m. on Friday, March 16, 2012, at the Hillsboro Rehab and Health Care Center in Hillsboro.
Graveside services are scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, at 2 p.m. in Oak Grove Cemetery in Hillsboro; the Rev. James Hayes will officiate. Hough & Sons Funeral Home in Hillsboro is in charge of local arrangements.
Born to Edward and Irena (Wornick) Dahler on Jan. 31, 1926, he was a graduate of Hillsboro High, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, and SIUE.
At Duquesne he earned All-American honors from Collier's as a basketball player in his senior year and was named to the first team of the NCAA Eastern District All-Stars. As the leading scorer on the team, he led the 1949-1950 Dukes to the National Invitational Tournament played in New York's Madison Square Gardens. A member of the Duquesne University Hall of Fame, he was the first player from that university to score over 1,000 points. He was also one of the first inductees to the Hillsboro High School Hall of Fame.
He played professional basketball for the Denver Frontier Refiners, the Waterloo Hawks, and the Philadelphia Warriors. A World War II Army vet, he returned to Hillsboro after his playing career to be a teacher, coach, and administrator.
He and Bliss McLean were married in July of 1953; she preceded him in death in 1977. He married Jane Walters in June of 1981, and she survives.
Also surviving are two daughters, Amy Ann Stock of Lynn Center and Lisa Bliss Lane of Hillsboro; one son, Chris Edward Dahler of Litchfield; six grandchildren; and one brother, Gene Dahler of El Toro, CA.
His parents; wife Bliss; and two children, Eve (in 1955) and Elizabeth (in 1956), preceded him.
He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Hillsboro, where he had served as an elder, deacon, and Sunday school teacher. He also belonged to VFW Post 1306 in Taylor Springs and to the retired teachers' group of Illinois.
