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Longtime Denton ISD coach Kerry West dies at age 57
07:12 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 7, 2007
By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer
Longtime Denton coach Kerry West, whose career included four seasons as Ryan High School’s head football coach, died at Baylor Medical Center on Sunday, one day shy of turning 58.
Kerry West
West retired because of health problems in May after 35 years as a teacher and coach in Denton schools.
His last assignment was athletics coordinator for Denton’s middle schools, a position he took after he resigned as Ryan’s head football coach in 1999.
Ken Purcell, athletic director for Denton schools, said West knew many people in town because he had coached so long in the school district, and parents and coaches alike respected him.
“If we had a problem with a parent, he would say, ‘let me talk to them. I coached them years ago. Let me talk to them and smooth this over,’” Purcell said. “And he did. He had such a great rapport with so many people here in Denton.”
Even coaches who didn’t work closely with West respected him.
“I got to know Kerry when I coached here the first time and also knew him from my time at Carroll while he was working here in Denton. He was a great man, and [his death is] a real loss to Denton and the coaching fraternity,” said Todd Dodge, University of North Texas head football coach.
West came to Denton schools in 1972, first as a middle school coach. He soon moved on to Denton High School and coached there until 1994. At one time or another, West coached nearly every sport at the school. Then he moved to the Ryan campus when it opened in 1994 as an assistant football coach.
In 1996, West became head football coach at Ryan, where he amassed an 8-31 win-loss record before becoming the middle school athletics coordinator in 1999.
“I really have been blessed with the greatest job that you can have,” West said when he retired in May. “You get to touch so many kids’ lives – especially when you stay in one town.”
Kerry Bernard West was born Aug. 6, 1949, in Fort Worth. He married Diane Ewing in Ringgold on Aug. 8, 1970.
He graduated in 1972 from what is now the University of North Texas.
In addition to coaching, he learned an appreciation for martial arts.
He trained to become a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and a third-degree black belt in karate shin-toshi.
In addition to the physical workout the martial arts gave him, they also allowed him to spend a lot of quality time with his only daughter, Amanda West.
“He took time as a father to spend time with me and train in karate with me, and I can tell you that meant more to me than any amount of money he could have given me,” Amanda West said. “Most parents don’t take time to do that.”
Their training began 19 years ago, she said, when she was 11.
She also earned a third-degree black belt in karate shin-toshi and a fourth-degree black belt in tae kwon do.
Until about six months ago, she and her father taught karate classes together.
Then, his health began to decline very rapidly, she said.
But her father did not want to quit.
“It shows his mentality to never give up,” Amanda West said. “His body gave up, but he never did.”
Many of his fellow coaches admired him, also, because he was so competitive.
“He had a knack for getting kids to play tough,” said Gary Fischer, former Denton High head football coach, who coached against West four times after the two spent several years together as assistants at Denton High. “You just knew that any kid who played for Kerry was going to be a tough, tough player.”
Purcell said the way West agonized in February over his decision to retire was a testament to his own toughness and perseverance.
As his health was declining, West came to Purcell’s office one day about 1 p.m., Purcell recalled.
He said he loved his job, but he needed to retire.
At 1 p.m. the next day, he returned to Purcell’s office and said he’d changed his mind.
He couldn’t leave the job he loved.
The next day at the same time, West returned again to Purcell’s office, saying he had talked to his doctor and that he really needed to call it quits.
“Some people really look forward to retiring; not Kerry,” Purcell said. “He really loved his job.”
Fred Grindle, who was West’s offensive coordinator at Ryan and coached several years alongside him, said that he admired how much West genuinely cared for young people.
“He would scan the newspaper, and if he saw some achievement by some kid — not just Ryan kids — he would clip it out and write a little note of congratulations and send it to them,” Grindle said.
Because of his devotion, many former students remember West as a loving, caring coach.
“He was a competitor, but most of all, he loved the kids. We could tell he loved us. He wanted the best for his athletes and his players,” said Guyer High School assistant coach Oschlor Flemming, who was a star running back during West’s stint at Ryan.
West’s wife, Diane West, a longtime kindergarten teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Denton, died in 2005, and the school library there is named in her honor.
West is survived by his daughter, Amanda West of Denton; parents, Dwight and Joyce West of Denton; and sister, Teresa Vicars of Coppell.
Visitation is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. today at the First Baptist Church of Denton fellowship hall.
A funeral service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Roselawn Memorial Park.
Memorials may be made to the Diane West Library at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School.
Bill DeBerry Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
Staff Writers Ethan Szatmary and Brett Vito contributed to this report.
MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-566-6884. His e-mail is mzabel@dentonrc.com
Longtime Denton ISD coach Kerry West dies at age 57
07:12 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 7, 2007
By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer
Longtime Denton coach Kerry West, whose career included four seasons as Ryan High School’s head football coach, died at Baylor Medical Center on Sunday, one day shy of turning 58.
Kerry West
West retired because of health problems in May after 35 years as a teacher and coach in Denton schools.
His last assignment was athletics coordinator for Denton’s middle schools, a position he took after he resigned as Ryan’s head football coach in 1999.
Ken Purcell, athletic director for Denton schools, said West knew many people in town because he had coached so long in the school district, and parents and coaches alike respected him.
“If we had a problem with a parent, he would say, ‘let me talk to them. I coached them years ago. Let me talk to them and smooth this over,’” Purcell said. “And he did. He had such a great rapport with so many people here in Denton.”
Even coaches who didn’t work closely with West respected him.
“I got to know Kerry when I coached here the first time and also knew him from my time at Carroll while he was working here in Denton. He was a great man, and [his death is] a real loss to Denton and the coaching fraternity,” said Todd Dodge, University of North Texas head football coach.
West came to Denton schools in 1972, first as a middle school coach. He soon moved on to Denton High School and coached there until 1994. At one time or another, West coached nearly every sport at the school. Then he moved to the Ryan campus when it opened in 1994 as an assistant football coach.
In 1996, West became head football coach at Ryan, where he amassed an 8-31 win-loss record before becoming the middle school athletics coordinator in 1999.
“I really have been blessed with the greatest job that you can have,” West said when he retired in May. “You get to touch so many kids’ lives – especially when you stay in one town.”
Kerry Bernard West was born Aug. 6, 1949, in Fort Worth. He married Diane Ewing in Ringgold on Aug. 8, 1970.
He graduated in 1972 from what is now the University of North Texas.
In addition to coaching, he learned an appreciation for martial arts.
He trained to become a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do and a third-degree black belt in karate shin-toshi.
In addition to the physical workout the martial arts gave him, they also allowed him to spend a lot of quality time with his only daughter, Amanda West.
“He took time as a father to spend time with me and train in karate with me, and I can tell you that meant more to me than any amount of money he could have given me,” Amanda West said. “Most parents don’t take time to do that.”
Their training began 19 years ago, she said, when she was 11.
She also earned a third-degree black belt in karate shin-toshi and a fourth-degree black belt in tae kwon do.
Until about six months ago, she and her father taught karate classes together.
Then, his health began to decline very rapidly, she said.
But her father did not want to quit.
“It shows his mentality to never give up,” Amanda West said. “His body gave up, but he never did.”
Many of his fellow coaches admired him, also, because he was so competitive.
“He had a knack for getting kids to play tough,” said Gary Fischer, former Denton High head football coach, who coached against West four times after the two spent several years together as assistants at Denton High. “You just knew that any kid who played for Kerry was going to be a tough, tough player.”
Purcell said the way West agonized in February over his decision to retire was a testament to his own toughness and perseverance.
As his health was declining, West came to Purcell’s office one day about 1 p.m., Purcell recalled.
He said he loved his job, but he needed to retire.
At 1 p.m. the next day, he returned to Purcell’s office and said he’d changed his mind.
He couldn’t leave the job he loved.
The next day at the same time, West returned again to Purcell’s office, saying he had talked to his doctor and that he really needed to call it quits.
“Some people really look forward to retiring; not Kerry,” Purcell said. “He really loved his job.”
Fred Grindle, who was West’s offensive coordinator at Ryan and coached several years alongside him, said that he admired how much West genuinely cared for young people.
“He would scan the newspaper, and if he saw some achievement by some kid — not just Ryan kids — he would clip it out and write a little note of congratulations and send it to them,” Grindle said.
Because of his devotion, many former students remember West as a loving, caring coach.
“He was a competitor, but most of all, he loved the kids. We could tell he loved us. He wanted the best for his athletes and his players,” said Guyer High School assistant coach Oschlor Flemming, who was a star running back during West’s stint at Ryan.
West’s wife, Diane West, a longtime kindergarten teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Denton, died in 2005, and the school library there is named in her honor.
West is survived by his daughter, Amanda West of Denton; parents, Dwight and Joyce West of Denton; and sister, Teresa Vicars of Coppell.
Visitation is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. today at the First Baptist Church of Denton fellowship hall.
A funeral service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Roselawn Memorial Park.
Memorials may be made to the Diane West Library at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School.
Bill DeBerry Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
Staff Writers Ethan Szatmary and Brett Vito contributed to this report.
MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-566-6884. His e-mail is mzabel@dentonrc.com
