Hall of Fame
Gaylon R. Dahn served two years of active duty in the United States Navy before enrolling at Coe College in 1950. Dahn lettered in baseball and basketball at Lisbon High School and began his Coe career as a member of an undefeated freshman basketball team. The Coe Cosmos sports reporter gave the following account of his first game as a sophomore on the varsity squad. "Dahn was all over the floor snagging loose balls and raising havoc with the Redmen from Simpson until he fouled out at the start of the fourth quarter." Dahn, referred to as a pepper-pot guard and a ball-hawking dead-eye, earned three varsity letters in basketball and was named honorary co-captain of the 1954 team which tied for first place in the Midwest Conference. While at Coe he also served as assistant coach of the freshman football team his junior year and coach of the freshman team while a senior. Following graduation, Dahn was appointed head football, basketball and track coach at Keota High School. In his first year at Keota his football team had a record of 9-0 and won the Ke-Wash Conference title. His basketball team that same year averaged 65 points per game. From 1956 to 1959 Gay was in a coaching position at Mt. Pleasant. In 1959 he became head basketball coach at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids. While at Jefferson he compiled an eight-year record of 104 wins and 74 losses, including a 24-1 season in 1967 when the J-Hawks captured the Class AA state championship. Dahn was named Mississippi Valley Conference "Coach of the Year" in 1962, 1966 and 1967. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Gay Dahn completed a master's degree in school administration from the University of Iowa and received graduate training in the fields of education, administration and counseling at Northeast Missouri State College and the University of Iowa. In 1967 he joined Kirkwood Community College in the department of adult education and became the Director in 1971. He is presently Dean of Community Education at Kirkwood. Although it has been some time since Gay Dahn "put a team on the floor," he is still enthusiastic about all sports. He is responsible for developing the Kirkwood athletic program which currently includes men's and women's teams in basketball, softball, golf, tennis and a broad range of intramural recreational activities. As an exuberant athlete and a successful alumnus, Gay Dahn has brought dignity and pride to Coe College. It is with pleasure that I add his name to the roster of distinguished athletes who comprise the Coe Athletic Hall of Fame.
