The casket sat right at the 50-yard line. The fall sky was perfectly blue.The home stands were full. And the beauty of a small town was on display. Look closely at the photo below from Wednesday and you’ll see the worn strip of grass on the sidelines of Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City, where the field’s namesake patrolled the sidelines for decades. Coach Van Winkle paced back and forth right there on football Friday nights, winning 275 games from 1974-2013.So for his funeral Wednesday, generations of players dug out their old jerseys to celebrate his life of tremendous impact, midway between the goalposts he loved so much. The locker room memories were vivid. And the family tributes were powerful. But as I sat there on the metal bleachers in the town where I grew up, I was struck with gratitude. Dozens of my retired teachers were there. So were classmates, neighboring farmers and community leaders. The current high school football team filled the stand’s south section. Everyone wore red and black, our school colors. And everyone sang the school fight song together as the casket rolled from midfield to the 20 past the end zone and into the waiting hearse.Those jerseys and the fight song represented the shared experience we all lived growing up in this community. We’d all been yelled at by coach when we screwed something up during practice. We’d all visited the same bakeries with him to get donuts during drivers’ ed trips around Story and Hamilton counties. And now, we all had tears in our eyes behind the sunglasses we wore on the afternoon that couldn’t have had more perfect football weather.We may need to wear cheaters to read the funeral program now but those years after graduation have made other realities more clear. It’s a blessing to have grown up right here in Iowa.
STORY CITY, Iowa — The casket sat right at the 50-yard line.
The fall sky was perfectly blue.
The home stands were full.
And the beauty of a small town was on display.
Look closely at the photo below from Wednesday and you’ll see the worn strip of grass on the sidelines of Kerry Van Winkle Field in Story City, where the field’s namesake patrolled the sidelines for decades.
Hearst Owned
Eric Hanson snapped this photo during Wednesday’s funeral of Kerry Van Winkle, the legendary high school football coach who died last week at age 83. Hanson played for Van Winkle at Roland-Story, and the stadium where the funeral was held is named after the coach who won 275 games and two state championships.
Coach Van Winkle paced back and forth right there on football Friday nights, winning 275 games from 1974-2013.
So for his funeral Wednesday, generations of players dug out their old jerseys to celebrate his life of tremendous impact, midway between the goalposts he loved so much.
The locker room memories were vivid. And the family tributes were powerful.
But as I sat there on the metal bleachers in the town where I grew up, I was struck with gratitude.
Dozens of my retired teachers were there. So were classmates, neighboring farmers and community leaders. The current high school football team filled the stand’s south section. Everyone wore red and black, our school colors. And everyone sang the school fight song together as the casket rolled from midfield to the 20 past the end zone and into the waiting hearse.
Those jerseys and the fight song represented the shared experience we all lived growing up in this community. We’d all been yelled at by coach when we screwed something up during practice. We’d all visited the same bakeries with him to get donuts during drivers’ ed trips around Story and Hamilton counties.
And now, we all had tears in our eyes behind the sunglasses we wore on the afternoon that couldn’t have had more perfect football weather.
We may need to wear cheaters to read the funeral program now but those years after graduation have made other realities more clear. It’s a blessing to have grown up right here in Iowa.
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