Friend, Teammate, Brother
JP Koehler Memorial Scholarship
Spearheaded by JP's father Stan Koehler and by JP's twin brother, Alex Koehler; this fund aims to honor JP's spirit in perpetuity as well as the strong legacy & connection the Koehler family has had with SF State. The Koehler family is thoroughly connected to San Francisco State University. John Paul's paternal grandmother, Edna Hoeffer, graduated from the SFSU (then San Francisco Teacher's College) in 1937. In 1963, John Paul's parents, Stan Koehler and Ann Marie Yezzi, enrolled and received their master's degrees in 1974.
Stan worked primarily in health and mental health programs for the City and County of San Francisco and relocated to New York in 1988. He is the Executive Director of Peace on the Street and received Inka Transmission in 2016 (Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen School). Ann Marie, after raising John Paul and his twin brother, returned to SFSU and received a teaching credential. She spent the next twenty years teaching in the Oakland Public School System.
Alex and John-Paul Koehler carried on this tradition and enrolled in 1984 with the help of Coach Allen Abraham, becoming part of the wrestling team. Both completed their undergraduate studies at SFSU and excelled as athletes on the NCAA Division 2 Wrestling team. Alex was named All-American and was inducted into the SFSU Hall of Fame in 2016
In 2018, JP passed away. He was well-known and loved by his teammates, friends, and family, and lived a large life.
Make A Gift
You can give directly to the John Paul Koehler Memorial Wrestling Scholarhsip Endowment
with this unique link
https://give.sfsu.edu/2609KFWES
If you'd like to make a larger gift or speak more in depth about the fund, please contact Coach Welch and David Fierberg (Head of Fundraising for SFSU Wrestling) at dfierberg@sfsu.edu
Why Growing this Endowment Matters
The most financially stable programs in the country have endowments that support their coaching positions and/or athletic scholarship. For us, this is about building prowess today, AND a legacy.
An endowed fund is invested, and then our program draws 4% annualy to support current use scholarship. In this way, the fund exists in perpetity to honor the namesake of the scholarship and to support our program.
Endowed funds are contractually bound to support our wrestling student athletes for generations to come. There is a legal contract with the main donor that exists within the unvieristy.
At SF State we are committed to the long-term stewardship of this, and ensuring our ability ty to suceed today as well as stbalizing our program for the future.
