Remembering 'Coach'
The day after Ted Kjolhede’s memorial service, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren paid tribute to him during a women’s basketball game with signs they had made in the community room of Ginger Kjolhede’s Mount Pleasant condominium. Ted and Ginger’s four sons all earned CMU degrees: Chris, ’71, Bart, ’75, Bob, MA ’85, and Jim, MSA ’84.
Ted Kjolhede, known throughout the CMU community simply as “Coach,” is remembered as one of the university’s biggest fans and strongest supporters who served the university as a coach and administrator for nearly 30 years.
He passed away peacefully at his home Sunday, February 24.
As a student-athlete, Kjolhede earned three letters in basketball and two each in football and tennis for the Chippewas in the mid-1940s. He was the most valuable player of the 1948 basketball team that went 17-3.
Following his graduation from CMU in 1948, Ted was a high school teacher and coach before returning to CMU in 1956. He was the head basketball coach from 1956 to 1971. His 15 seasons are still the most ever by a CMU basketball coach and his 216 career wins are also tops in school history. He served as athletics director from 1972 until his retirement in 1984.
“Dad loved his CMU athletics,” says Bob Kjolhede, MA ’85. “He never could have been a Florida winter person because he would have missed his CMU athletics.”
“He and Mom settled in here and stayed here,” Bob says. “As he got older, he had to let go of some things, but he never let go of his connection to CMU.”
As a freshman in 1960, Dave Keilitz, ’64 MA ’65 Ed.S. ’75, met Coach Kjolhede. Later the two shared an office when Keilitz was a junior varsity baseball coach, and then Keilitz took over as athletics director when Kjolhede retired.
“He was kind, caring, giving, and always doing the right thing,” Keilitz says. “He was a man of tremendous integrity.
“And he had tremendous loyalty to Central Michigan University. It was his school, and as a former student-athlete, coach, and administrator, he did wonderful things for the university.”
In 1966 Kjolhede was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading CMU to a 23-6 record, a district title, and a spot in the NAIA national tournament. CMU defeated No. 1-ranked Northern Michigan in the District 23 finals and won a first-round national tournament game before falling to eventual champion Oklahoma Baptist.
His teams won four Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and appeared in six national tournaments (NAIA and NCAA college division). His three 20-win seasons are still the most in school history.
He was inducted into both the CMU Athletic Hall of Fame and the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame in 1988 and was tabbed the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics men’s basketball National Coach of the Year in 1966.
As athletics director, he was instrumental in the Chippewas’ rise from Division II to Division I and its admittance into the Mid-American Conference. He also was involved in the enhancement and rebuilding of CMU’s facilities, including Kelly/Shorts Stadium, Rose Arena, Theunissen Stadium, and Bennett Track. He also worked for the incorporation of women’s varsity sports during his tenure as athletics director.
Ted was known as a devoted family man and committed citizen who was active in several organizations in the community. He was an advocate for amateur sports, conservation of natural resources, and international understanding through travel and exchange programs.
A memorial service took place at First United Methodist Church in Mount Pleasant February 29. Memorials may be sent to the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy, First United Methodist Church, or Central Michigan Hospice. •
