New sign honors WHS coach

“Kirby Krulitz was the kind of person you go through life hoping to run into.”

Those words were spoken by Wallace Mayor Dick Vester when the Wallace School District and community dedicated the gym in their legendary coach's name in late 2011.

Those words still ring true 6 years later.

Wallace’s beloved girls basketball coach, Kirby passed away in January of 2011, leaving a void that will probably never be able to be filled.

Since the night the Kirby Krulitz Court was dedicated in his honor, a banner has hung on the south wall of the gym, behind the basket, but now a more official sign adorns the entry into the gym, and that makes perfect sense considering that every time a former player of Kirby’s walks into the gym they are instantly transported back to when Kirby was the guiding coach in their lives.

During the 2005-2006 school year Kirby led his most successful team to the 1A state championship game, where they finished as the runner-up.

“I can still see his smile and feel his pats on the back,” said Krista Hanan (formerly Williams).

Kirby’s passion for basketball was legendary, but his passion for the students he worked with and coached are what made him a legend in the Silver Valley.

“Kirby was more than just a coach,” Kaci Philp (formerly Arave) said. “He was one of the more special and influential people to step into our young lives. One of the best qualities about Kirby was that he made everyone feel like we were vital to the team. I was never the one scoring the points, but he made me feel like my strengths were equally important and I am certain he truly thought that. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that Kirby taught us to do great things, even when we didn’t think it was possible.”

The next year Kirby once again guided the girls to the state tournament where they finished as the consolation champions, but most of the team remained from the year before.

Following the consolation victory, many of the girls experienced that dreaded wave of emotion that accompanies the completion of anything that people hold dear and once again, Kirby demonstrated that passion he had for the children he worked with.

“After our last state tournament game, Kirby wasn’t always one to show a lot of emotion or affection towards his girls,” Cara Cox (formerly Hayman) said. “I will never forget the feeling after that last game. The buzzer sounded for the final time wearing that Wallace Miner 10 jersey and I was devastated. I lived for these times and now they were over. Just off the side of the court, I was crying, and he held me tight in his arms and he kept repeating, ‘it’s been a great road kid and you never forget it!’ and still to this day I can remember the love I felt from that man.”

When Kirby passed, most of the girls were living away from the Silver Valley, pursuing their dreams as they transitioned into adults, but the difficult news brought them home and once again reunited this tremendous team of ladies with a community that shared their love of a great man.

“The one thing that stuck out the most about Kirby’s funeral was the tremendous outpouring of love that engulfed his service,” Lisa Reed (formerly Carver) said. “That gym was standing room only. You looked around and there wasn’t one space that wasn’t occupied by someone who loved and respected this man. Another thing that predominantly stayed with me was feeling so overwhelmingly sad at the beginning of the service, but his children were laughing and smiling at telling such wonderful stories of their father that it made me laugh and smile, along with everyone else, and made me realize Kirby would have hated seeing people sad over his passing. By the time his service was over it was nice being able to look back and laugh and reflect at all the great memories.”

Now the Wallace girls program is the hands of coach Chris Lund, who respects the legacy of the man whose job he now has.

“Kirby left a great legacy at Wallace,” Lund said. “He created a basketball program that pushed players to levels they didn't think that they could be pushed to. I hope to continue to push players to that level.”

Ten years removed from their playing days as Miners, most of the girls have now gone on to start families of their own, but they still have their own special parts of Kirby that they remember.

For Krista Hanan, she used motivation from Kirby to play college basketball, before returning home where she is now in her fifth year as the Wallace eighth-grade coach.

“Every time I step on that court I feel Kirby there with me,” Hanan said. “I can still hear him yelling encouraging words in my ear. He shaped me into the coach that I am today.”

For Kacie Philp, Kirby is still the driving force behind hers and many other’s motivation in life.

“Kirby’s is a true legacy and I love walking into Kirby Krulitz Court,” Philp said. “There is nobody else who has made as big of an impact to the teams and individuals that have played in that gym than Kirby. I feel privileged to have had the chance to call Kirby my coach and my friend.”

Kirby’s sound advice still enters Cara Cox’s head, as does his sense of humor.

“Kirby taught me that life is short and that you should always live it to the fullest and live each day humbly and proudly,” Cox said. “My fondest memory of Kirby is the rumble strips. Every time we would be on a trip somewhere and he was driving, he would purposely hit the rumble strips and then shortly after I would hear him ask, ‘are you awake Ms. Hayman?’ Still to this day whenever we hit the rumble strips while driving I think of him and laugh.”

Lisa Reed remembers the rewards of hard work that Kirby instilled into each of them.

“Walking into that gym now floods me with memories of high school basketball,” Reed said. “All of the good times, all of the bad times, and how utterly hard we worked on that court, with Kirby pushing us the whole way. It was such a great honor to be able to play for such an incredible person as Kirby, and walking into that gym always makes me remember that.”

Kirby was a huge fan of rock band AC/DC, and before every Miners game they warm up to at least one of their songs.

Next you’re at Kirby Krulitz Court and you hear AC/DC, take a minute to remember Kirby, and his massive impact on the community he proudly represented.