Community sets up memorial fund to build statue to honor former coach

 

By J. Brad Jones

COALFIELD—The people of Coalfield and Oliver Springs have put aside their sports rivalry to come together to honor one of their own.

Garry Kreis, also known as “High Pockets,” played his high school football in Oliver Springs and at the University of Tennessee before becoming a teacher at Norwood Middle School in Anderson County.

In 1979, he became the assistant football coach at Coalfield High School, as well as the head basketball coach and teacher. For the next 28 years, Coach Garry Kreis was Coalfield football. Garry was assistant coach until 1987, when he became the head coach. He continued that role through 2007.

Recently, Garry Kreis was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was doing very well with that until he received the bad news that the cancer had spread to his brain. Coach Kreis was placed in hospice care on March 14, 2017, where he remains now. However, Garry’s health has been deteriorating rapidly.

The community has begun several projects to honor the memory of Coach Garry Kreis for his continued dedication and support of the Coalfield community.

One project is having Highway 62 west from Oliver Springs to Coalfield, roughly a four-mile stretch, named the “Coach Garry Kreis Memorial Highway.” This project has been given to state politicians to get the project approved.

But another project that the Facebook group Prayers for Coach Kreis came up with is an idea to have a statue built to honor the former coach. So recently an account was set up at Citizens First Bank to raise funds for the project. The Coach Garry Kreis Memorial Fund is now ready to accept donations. A GoFundMe account also has been set up for online donations for those that are out of town.

The group is hoping to raise the $35,000, or more, needed to have a custom bronze life-size statue made. The group began receiving donations on Tuesday, March 21, and it is well on its way to meeting the goal.

Coach Kreis once said in a newspaper interview upon his retirement from coaching: “I want to be remembered for caring about the kids of Coalfield. Not just football players, all the kids at Coalfield. K-12, I love them all.”

As the testament of his love for the kids and community, the people of both Oliver Springs and Coalfield have come together to raise these funds to remember this great man.

J. Brad Jones is owner/operator of BBB Communications in Oak Ridge.