Nov 28, 2002 By Jim Kriek For The 4 min read

Even in retirement, the honors continue to come along for Ross Kershey, and they are well-deserved honors, earned many times over. Ross retired five years ago as history teacher at Coatesville High School, where he also had a long and distinguished basketball coaching career. His teams earned an overall record of 462 wins and 128 losses, including 12 section titles and one District I championship.

Along with that, he coached track 18 years, 14 as head coach, with his teams compiling an unbelievable record of 103-1 in dual meets. Try to imagine that in its real perspective – 14 years coaching and only one loss. His teams also won 27 Ches-Mont League titles in championship and relay competition, two district titles, the 1974 state crown, with 10 individual state champions, one Eastern U.S. championship (1974), the same year that his mile relay team won the Penn Relays Mile Championship of America.

But the honors for Ross don’t exist entirely in sports. In 1982, in recognition of his 40 years teaching American History, he was the recipient of the first of what is now an annual award as Educator of the Year at Coatesville, an honor that is now known as the J. Ross Kershey Award. And the new high school gymnasium was named the J. Ross Kershey Gymnasium in his honor. Unlike some school boards, the Coatesville board doesn’t wait until the honoree dies to name something in his honor. They do it while the honoree is still alive and can be part of the festivities, knowing that his efforts have been forever memorialized.

All of these honors were recognized recently when Ross was inducted into the Coatesville High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Ross grew up in Trotter, the son of John (Yank) and Dawnice Kershey, and graduated from the former Dunbar Twp. High School, where he played basketball. He went to Temple University, where he also played basketball, graduating in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

He then attended Indiana University of Pa., where he became acquainted with a student placement director named Dr. Davis, and when the latter received a call from Coatesville asking if they had anybody available who could teach social studies and coach basketball, Ross was on his way east, and, as the old saying goes, the rest is history.

At first, Ross thought Coatesville might be a stop on the way to higher things, but 46 years later he is still in Coatesville, where he will tell you, “I have never found a bigger or better place for me.”

After stepping down as head coach, Ross came back a couple of times to help out with the basketball program, but in 1995 he made his retirement permanent. He has spent a lot of time since, traveling with his wife, Sally, and they have covered more miles than Marco Polo, Columbus, Magellan and Charles Kuralt combined.

One tradition Ross maintained for years was taking his history classes to Gettysburg every spring on three weekends in May. Shortly before he retired, I talked to Ross and he said then he was getting ready for his 112th trip to the Civil War battlefield, then added, “I learn something new about that place every time I go there.”

How would you like to attend a seminar conducted on the battle by Ross and Tom Dolde, the latter, in my opinion, being the most knowledgeable of that battle of anybody around these parts?

There have been so many times over the years that I have thought about what loomed as a great local angle basketball story that, unfortunately, never materialized.

In 1981, Uniontown was sweeping through the western Pa. competition, and looked to be headed for Hershey and the state finals. Ditto over east where Ross had Coatesville on a Hershey course. Here was a great story setting, and Todd Trent, then sports editor of this newspaper, and myself, got together and planned for a state final that would have an all-Fayette coaching flavor.

We would both go to Hershey, Todd covering the finals from the viewpoint of Uniontown and coach Lash Nesser, and me covering from the viewpoint of Ross and Coatesville – two Fayette County natives, and two good friends, going head-to-head for state honors. It was a natural.

But you know what Braw Bobby Burns, the patron saint poet of Scotland said about the best-laid plans of mice and men. Coatesville was upset by Springfield-Delco in the Eastern final, while Uniontown won and went to Hershey, beating S-D 73-61 for the state championship.

It’s good to see Ross honored for his years of service to education and coaching. Didn’t somebody once say something about a prophet being without honor in his own country?

Ross Kershey is living proof to the contrary of that observation.

Kim Kriek is a Herald-Standard sports columnist and correspondent.