Countless high school athletes walk the halls of their schools every single day, completely unaware of the impact that their performance and genuine modesty is making on the general student population. Sometimes that admiration is born of jealousy- not an ugly jealousy, one driven by desire for that person’s abilities and the attention afforded them because of them. Rather, it’s an enviousness of that person’s cool nature- the way they use their natural talents without expecting attention in return. Those are the athletes who slip seamlessly in and out of the two worlds that they occupy: first as a classmate, navigating the same social and academic climate as their peers; the other as a teammate, understanding the anxiety of high pressure situations that only other athletes can appreciate. Ask anyone who knew him, and Ed Sieben was the perfect study of balance. Every recollection of Ed Sieben- be it pulled from an old newspaper article or shared by a friend- paints a picture of an ordinary kid who just seemed to have an extraordinary skill set. Competing for the Naperville Community High School Redskins in an era when he was surrounded by fellow Hall of Fame inductees (Rich Erickson, John Clawson, and coach Bud Berger), Sieben’s name is one that creeps into every good story of an athletic conquest that brought the community together. He excelled in two arenas: on the court for head coach Bob Grove, and on the track for Berger. Growing up, basketball was in Sieben’s blood. He learned the game from his father, Ralph, who was an outstanding basketball player for Naperville Community himself, a key contributor to a Naperville Little Seven Conference championship years earlier. Ralph would be one of Ed’s first coaches, leading young Ed and his buddies to a DuPage Parochial League championship at Ss. Peter & Paul school.As a two-year starter and All-Conference selection, Ed Sieben would stand out on the court during a time of tremendous success for the Redskins basketball program. Following 24-4 and 22-4 seasons in 1962 & 1963, expectations were high for Naperville basketball heading into the 1963-1964 season. After a slow start that saw them win just two of their first six games, Coach Grove found the right combination of players just in time for the Proviso West Holiday tournament: Randy Thompson, Rich Erickson, Rick White, Bob Dudzienski, and leading scorer Ed Sieben. It was a starting five that formed the core of a team that would pull into a tie for the Upstate Eight Conference lead with Elgin High School on Friday, January 31, 1964, Sieben leading the way with 19 points in a 49-47 nail-biter.Once hot, the team would remain so, capturing the attention of their classmates and community. Sieben continued to contribute, perhaps no moment bigger than at the end of a 49-46 victory over East Aurora on Friday, February 21, 1964, that would clinch a share of the conference crown. With a jump shot that Jerry Marzuki, writer for the Aurora Beacon-News would later describe as “deadly,” Sieben scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, with his final two buckets giving the Redskins leads of 43-41 and 45-44 in the waning moments. Weeks later, Naperville went on to defeat that same East Aurora squad to win a regional title before falling short of eventual state quarterfinalist Glenbard East in the sectional. For his effort, Sieben was recognized by the Chicago Tribune as an All-Star for the 1963-1964 season, the credit for which he would share with Thompson, Erickson, White, Dudzienski, and fellow teammates Tom Deever, Curt Malm, Pete Cosyns, Rick Sanborn, and Ted Rickert, all of whom could have been counted on to contribute on any given Friday night. Grove would remember of Sieben a few years later, “He came through when the playing was rough […] I knew I could always count on him to pull us back to the top in a rough game.” As spring marked the end of basketball and the start of track season, Sieben’s success transferred seamlessly to the outdoor setting. In both the 1963 and 1964 district track meets hosted by Hinsdale, Sieben won the high jump with leaps of greater than six feet. Sieben established a new DuPage County record in May of 1964 with a jump of 6’-1½”, and led his Redskins to a conference championship at the 1964 Upstate Eight meet, setting a new school record in the high jump at 6’3”. His performance at the Hinsdale meet earned him a trip to the May 16, 1964, State Meet in Champaign, along with teammates Rich Kokes, Cliff Reedy, Bill Westphal, Larry Hungerford, Tony Bond, Doug Woolman, and Jim Simantel. Sieben finished 3rd in the high jump in Champaign. Years later, the Naperville community continues to remember Ed Sieben for not only his contribution to the history of Naperville Community & Naperville Central athletics, but also for the sacrifice that he made for his country. Following one year at Western Illinois University, Sieben was home working for Burlington Railroad when he entered the United States Army on January 24, 1966. Following basic training and advanced training in jungle warfare at Fort Polk (LA), Sieben would arrive in Vietnam on his twentieth birthday, July 9, 1966. According to the Naperville Sun article “A Son, an Athlete, a Friend” written by D.J. Wanberg to mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Sieben and twenty- six other members of Alpha Company’s reconnaissance platoon came into a jungle clearing in Pleiku Province when they were attacked almost immediately by a massive North Vietnamese force. On August 2, 1966, Ed Sieben was the first Naperville resident to give his life in Vietnam. Sieben would be awarded the Bronze Star for the heroism he displayed in the military operation. Naperville City Council notes from the presentation of the award outline the actions taken by a selfless Private First Class Sieben, where with disregard for his own safety, he heroically provided cover fire for the other men in his platoon. As a student, athlete, and soldier, Ed Sieben was many things to many people. Whether they knew him as a classmate or as a teammate, all would agree that the good-natured, kind-hearted example set by Sieben is one for future generations of student-athletes to emulate.