‘He’s always with us;’ Local school honors late longtime teacher, coach at football game

RIVERSIDE — Friday night’s Stebbins High School football game was way more than a game.

The community came together to honor a beloved staff member.

Stebbins longtime coach and teacher Ron Coleman passed away after a medical condition, according to the district.

Fans were asked to wear pink at Friday’s football game to support Coleman.

The stands were a sea of pink, showing the impact Coleman had on the community.

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“He was just a genuinely good person. He cared about people more than I’ve ever seen anybody care about people,” Chad Wyen, Mad River Local Schools superintendent said.

The pink symbolized Coleman being a breast cancer survivor.

Wyen said Coleman was with the district for more than 20 years.

He did everything from teaching health to coaching boys and girls basketball.

“He gave me my first coaching job as a 19-year-old kid, as a freshman coach and really just became a mentor throughout the rest of my life, wouldn’t be… near what I am today without him,” Mike Stogsdill said.

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Gavin Peters had him as a teacher in middle school.

“He was a very nice guy. I remember he was very understanding, very not like, not like one of those meaner teachers just like very understanding of like our perspective,” Peters said.

Many said his smile, laugh and ability to uplift people are what they are going to miss.

“So many students commented today on our Facebook post, honoring him just talking about how he touched their lives and how so many graduated because of him and are doing great things with their lives,” Wyen said.

Stebbins High School will be closed on Tuesday for Coleman’s funeral.

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