Ross Kershey walked the halls of Coatesville Area Senior High School as both a coach and teacher, writes Kim Douglas for The Hunt. Kershey passed away last October at age 90, but his legacy is remembered in Coatesville. 

In 28 seasons on the basketball court and 14 on the track field, Kershey earned 3 Ches-Mont League Championships, 14 league relay crowns, two district titles, and a state championship. The school’s gymnasium still bears his name proudly.  

“Teaching was always first for him,” says Kershey’s only son, Scott. 

Kershey was the namesake and first recipient of the Coatesville Area Senior High School’s Honor Society’s Educator of the Year in 1981. His creativity and passion both in and out of the classroom inspired his students, his family, and his community. 

“His biggest gift was his love for the city and the people who lived there,” said Holly Wilson Leslie, a 1988 CASH graduate. “Each year, ahead of the prom, he’d dedicate an entire class to showing students how place settings worked in fancy restaurants, so inner-city kids who may have never gone to nicer restaurants wouldn’t feel embarrassed.” 

Kershey graduated from Temple University in 1955 with a communications degree. A year after graduation, he started teaching and coaching at what was then Coatesville’s S. Horace Scott High School. Kershey never left, staying at the school for over four decades. 

In 2021, Kershey created the Scott Kershey Basketball Permanent Endowment to benefit West Chester University’s men’s basketball team, in honor of his son. 

Read more about Ross Kershey’s life and legacy at The Hunt.