Daniel Earl Eakin III

Daniel Earl Eakin III 

Father. Husband. Grandfather. Great Grandfather. Coach. Teacher. Competitor. Statistician. Adventurer. Risk-taker. Story-teller. Tenacious. Gritty. Generous. Brassy Tough-Guy with a Great Big Heart. 

Dan was born in Wilmington, Delaware on September 5, 1938 to Thelma & George Washington Eakin. Dan grew up with his older sister, Joyce, half-sister Elma, and niece Beverly. Dan was the “gatherer of the gang” for all things sports, fun, and mischief growing up around his neighborhoods and schools. 

The Eakins moved to New Castle, DE when Dan was 12, where he later attended William Penn High School. Dan’s high school team never lost a football game while he was playing center and linebacker at William Penn, and he earned All-American honors during his senior year. Between delivering The Morning Journal on a bicycle paper route, class president for three years in high school, earning varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track, Dan always had a desire to lead and serve. After high school, Dan entered the Army at Fort Knox, KY, playing QB for the football team. In 1958, Michigan State recruited Dan to play for the mighty Spartans football team. Dan played football at MSU four years and baseball at MSU for one year. 

In his last semester at MSU, Dan married Karen Luedtke, whom he was married to for 35 years. Following college graduation, they moved to Jackson, MI in 1961 for Dan’s job with Goodyear Tire Company. Dan and Karen welcomed Gail, Kristin & Lynne within 3.5 years. Dan began his coaching career with his first high school football team while playing men’s slow pitch softball for the Dinos. The Eakin family then moved to Detroit, MI, as Dan pursued a job as a salesman with Lever Brothers. Following a job transfer, the Eakins moved to Syracuse, NY, in 1975, and welcomed daughter #4, Kelly.

In 1977, the Eakins moved to Olathe, Kansas. By 1979, Dan was looking for a deeper connection to the Olathe community for his family. As a result, Dan started coaching girls fastpitch softball in the Olathe Girls Softball Association (OGSA), and then joined OGSA as a commissioner. His first team, Duguid Hanes, practiced at the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe wearing t-shirts, ball caps and blue jeans. In 1981, his son, Daniel IV, was born. Dan’s growing family did not slow him from developing OGSA’s facilities and presence in the community. Later that year, Dan was voted President of OGSA. As the President, Dan was the driving force behind OGSA purchasing the land from the city of Olathe in 1983, which initiated the volunteer-led construction of the original 151st street complex starting in 1986. In 2001, OGSA expanded their physical footprint to support the significant growth in fastpitch softball with seven more fields at the Lone Elm Softball Complex in Olathe. These two complexes have hosted thousands of league and metro/regional/national tournament games with ~ 10,000 young women competing in OGSA’s spring/summer/fall leagues over the last 40+ years. This includes all four Eakin daughters and five granddaughters playing softball at OGSA with Dan supporting as a coach, dad, and/or grandfather. Dan realized early in his softball coaching career that the key to success in girls fastpitch softball was great windmill-style pitching. As a result, he started the Dan Eakin pitching clinic, which provided a learning opportunity for thousands of young girls with aspirations to pitch for their team. 

In addition to overseeing the rapid growth at OGSA, Dan’s Express (‘83 - 90) and Peppers (‘86- present) teams produced some of the highest quality softball players in the K.C. area while competing regularly at regional & national tournaments. Dan’s coaching career spanned more than 50 years, traveling with his teams all over the United States representing Olathe, KS. Dan always demanded hard work and competitiveness from his players; continuously pushing his own teams and OGSA teams to strive to play softball at an elite level. Success emerged from endless work on skills taught, shrewd third-base in-game instruction, countless wins, and hundreds of pre/post-game pep talks. Dan’s teams’ achievements ultimately provided the opportunity for over 300 female athletes to continue to play fast-pitch softball in college programs across the country. 

In 1997, Dan married Susan Baslock, and he spent the last 27 years traveling and enjoying life with her. Dan’s life was centered around his family. He loved watching his grandchildren play sports and dance for their high school and college teams, tell them stories of the good old days “when things were really tough”, and would proudly give a fist pump if they had accomplished something worth celebrating. He was always willing to go the extra mile for anyone and everyone who was in need; he was the definition of a servant leader. During Dan’s final years, his wife Susan served as a loving caretaker for him. Dad was grateful to have her by his side as he knew he could always count on her to care for him. Dan passed peacefully on Friday, December 13th, surrounded by his family: Gail, Kristin, Lynne, Kelly, Danny and Susan. 

Dan, Susan and his children would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Jeff Cameron, Dr. Fred Seligson, Dr. Joe Cates, Dr. Theodore Pope, Dr. Peter Park and his medical care team at Research Medical Center. Dan had the very BEST team taking care of him at all times.

In addition to his immediate family, Dan is survived by his sister Joyce Shevchuck, of Wilmington Delaware, and many beloved nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, Thelma and George Eakin and his half-sister, Elma Jacobi.

Please join us for the “Last Inning” celebration of Dan Eakin’s life:

Saturday, January 11, 2025 // 2:00-5:00 pm
Olathe Downtown Library, Flexbox Theater, 1st floor
260 East Santa Fe St. Olathe, KS 66061

The family would encourage you to “get in the game” by wearing attire that reminds you of Dan for the
“Last Inning” celebration. (Softball jersey, MSU green & white, etc.)

To honor Dan's legacy, the family has elected to establish an OGSA beautification fund. The family kindly requests in lieu of flowers, to consider a donation to the fund. Additional details will be provided at the “Last Inning” celebration in January.