Ed Owen's hoop dreams began as a nightmare.

One terrifying night when he was 6, he climbed out of bed and suddenly couldn't walk.

He was diagnosed with polio and spent most of his childhood summers in hospitals. By high school, though, he had already developed a steely resolve. It led him to compete in the 1964 Paralympic Games in Tokyo as a fierce wheelchair basketball player.

His discovery of the sport transformed Mr. Owen. He, in turn, transformed the sport.

Coach, author and gold-winning athlete, he went on to compete in six more Paralympic Games and was voted the greatest wheelchair basketball player of all time by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.

His brother, Bob Owen of Oakboro, N.C., only recently became aware of the honor.

"I didn't even know about it until we started to go through his stuff because he never talked about that sort of thing," he said. "Our parents raised us to be quite humble, and Ed took it to the maximum."

But Mr. Owen had shown remarkable determination since boyhood, when he'd spend six hours a day shooting hoops in the school gym. Having witnessed that, the award made perfect sense to his brother.

"Ed had an ability, when he set a goal, to keep going after it," he said. "And if something got in his way, he'd figure out a way around it and just keep moving."

The memorial service for Edward Sherman Owen is 2 p.m. today at the Shepherd Center gymnasium. Mr. Owen, 62, of Sandy Springs died Aug. 1 at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Both of Mr. Owen's legs were amputated in January. Complications from that surgery led to his death, his brother said.

The body was cremated. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

On top of his basketball prowess, the 6-foot-10 athlete won Paralympic medals in swimming, athletics, pentathlon and javelin.

The Indiana native earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Illinois in 1970, led its wheelchair basketball team to a national championship and went on to coach teams from California to Kentucky.

He wrote two books, "Playing and Coaching Wheelchair Basketball," a definitive guide that he was preparing for a second edition, and "The Sport Wheelchair: Set-up & Maintenance."

Mr. Owen worked for a wheelchair manufacturing company while he was living in Germany and served as assistant coach of the German women's wheelchair basketball team at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta.

His brother described Mr. Owen as a thinking coach, the kind who could customize his style to motivate each player.

In the late 1990s, he settled in Atlanta, where he led clinics, helped develop a state all-star program and coached men's and women's teams at the Shepherd Center, where he met Gavin Cloy of Johns Creek.

"He taught me everything I know about the sport and dedicated his whole life to wheelchair basketball," Mr. Cloy said. Mr. Owens encouraged him to graduate from the University of Illinois.

"Without Ed, I wouldn't have gone to college or been able to get my degree and my teaching certificate and be where I am now," said Mr. Cloy, a physical education teacher at Sweet Apple Elementary School.

"He made an enormous impact, not just on me, but on everybody who plays wheelchair basketball," he said. "Ed made the sport what it is today."

In addition to his brother, he is survived by his sister, Suzan Owen of Sandy Springs.