Fallen coach honored

Kathleen Anderson, a nurse, with her daughter, Jennifer Larson, during the birth of Jennifer’s child in 2005. Submitted Photo

Coaches chose the shirt tribute because of Anderson’s love of Hawaii, which she visited almost every year, mainly the island of Maui.

To have the coaches decked out in Hawaiian shirts and dedicating the season to Anderson is “a great honor,” daughter Jennifer  Larson said. “When I see that it reminds me of my mom.”

You knew exactly where Anderson was at all times, her friends and family said. She made sure of it with her booming voice, and during sporting events, a blowing whistle.

“I never had a problem hearing her,” said Meagan Curtis, who had Anderson as her head coach for junior varsity volleyball her freshman year at Del Norte High School. “I could be on the other side of the gym and you always knew where she was.”

“She made people love volleyball.” Jennifer Larson, speaking about her mother, Kathleen Anderson, pictured in about 1989.

She is considered, along with Debbie Lorenzi, who was the varsity coach for several years, a major reason for the program’s success. This season the varsity team is seeking its 21st straight conference title.

‘Rock ’n’ roll, Del Norte!’

Anderson was the ultimate Warriors fan.

“Rock ’n’ roll Del Norte, Rock ’n’ roll!” Anderson would holler during many a Warrior sporting event, from football and volleyball to basketball, many times cheering her own children on, Larson recalled.

“She never missed any sporting event of mine,” Larson said. “She was always there for her six kids.”

During football games she blew a whistle so loud that it could be heard on the radio during broadcasts, her daughter said.

After leaving coaching Anderson went back to school to pursue her dream of being a nurse and helped to deliver countless babies at Sutter Coast Hospital as an obstetrics nurse.

In a way, Larson said, her mom was still coaching, pushing and encouraging women as they gave birth.

One time a woman with her  three children came up to Larson and said that Anderson had delivered all three of them.

“She told me my mom made her labor experience better.”

Mentoring the non-stars

Debbie, left, and Pablo Lorenzi, right, sport Hawaiian shirts in honor of Anderson at a match this week. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

Lorenzi and Anderson were  friends who had played recreation volleyball and softball together by the time she became head JV coach in 1982.

Anderson was a key to the volleyball program’s success, Lorenzi said.

“She brought her enthusiasm, inspiration and her knowledge of the game to the program,” Lorenzi said. “She taught the players the basics of volleyball and taught it well.”

Anderson was constantly attending volleyball conferences, clinics and events.

“She always wanted to learn,” Lorenzi said.

While a tough coach who expected the best from her team, Anderson loved to teach and brought a passion and respect for the game. She was known to keep unusually large teams so all interested girls, regardless of ability, had a chance to play.

Lorenzi and Larson both said that Anderson loved to help players who, while not the most talented, would give everything they had.

“She made people love volleyball,” Larson said.

Going back to the island

Kathleen Anderson during her last trip to Maui in April. Submitted Photo

So mother and daughter got an apartment and stayed in San Luis Obispo for six months.

Larson eventually got a scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Colorado.

Anderson had worked for many years at Seaside Hospital in the medical records department, but eventually decided to go back to school and became a nurse. After graduating from College of the the Redwoods in Eureka in 2001 with her nursing degree, she became an obstetrics nurse at Sutter Coast, working until two weeks before her death.

When Anderson was diagnosed with cancer, “she never complained,” Larson said. “Never. Not once did she have a pity party for herself. She was just really positive.”

Anderson visited her beloved Maui for a final time in April. She had gone there six months earlier, but was not feeling well.

This time she felt a lot better, and her entire family was there to enjoy the islands with her one last time.

Larson said that before her mother died she requested that at her funeral people wear Hawaiian shirts so the service would be “as bright and cheerful as possible” Larson said.