The heart and head of South St. Paul High School’s wildly successful athletic department for three decades, Pete Veldman passed away Tuesday at age 86.
A native of Hollandale, Minn., Veldman won a high school wrestling state championship at Albert Lea before competing for the Gophers in college.
He served in the army, then eventually found his way to South St. Paul, where he taught physical education and coached wrestling and football before becoming the school’s athletics director, a position he held until retiring in 1993.
In that time, Veldman steered the school through numerous changes, from supporting the addition of women’s athletics in the 1970s to navigating South St. Paul’s dwindling school enrollment, aging facilities and depleted staff in the 1980s.
The South St. Paul Hall of Fame member met every challenge head on.
“He provided a lot of leadership in all of those moments,” current South St. Paul AD Chad Sexauer said.
Most importantly, he was present. Dave Metzen served as the district’s superintendent for most of Veldman’s tenure. He marveled at the time and care Veldman put into each program.
“The hours he put in were unbelievable. He was at just about every event that he could be, and he had four boys of his own, too,” Metzen said. “So it was quite a commitment that he made to athletics at South St. Paul.”
That remained true even after Metzen’s retirement. Sexauer noted the former administrator would stop by football practice once a week. The running joke was when Sexauer was only the school’s football coach, he saw Veldman more than he saw the actual AD.
This all while Veldman was a constant cog in local wrestling, serving as an official and referee in the sport across multiple levels for decades.
Even in retirement, Veldman was still active in high school sports, from attending games played by his grandchildren to working for the Classic Suburban Conference. He served as a mentor for Sexauer after he got the AD job.
And, of course, Veldman and his wife, Arlene — who died last summer — continued to attend Packers games.
“Because what they loved to do was be at high school competitions,” Sexauer said. “I don’t think Pete or Arlene missed many events.”
Veldman is survived by his sons and many grandchildren. Veldman’s visitation is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26 at the First Presbyterian Church in South St. Paul, with the funeral to follow.