The shadow box on the wall in the hallway of my alma mater leading to the gymnasium at Liberty High School was a simple one, yet one I just stood and stared at. Inside was the high school jersey of my friend and classmate Julius Locket.

 

His jersey had been retired in a ceremony I attended in January of 2018. I had never seen the jersey on that wall until Monday. Apparently, my mental retreat down memory lane to the school I had not been to in years consumed me as a friend walked by and broke me out of my stupor with the words, “what a player.”

 

Julius was definitely that, maybe the best to ever do it at the school and the jersey retirement was deserved. The friend then said, “I bet you had a lot do with that happening.” I said my role was minimal at best.

 

I mentioned this in the blog today because I told my friend the person responsible for it was Ryan Lantz. At that time, in 2018, he was coaching the Liberty boys’ basketball team.

 

It would strike me as sadly ironic that less than 12 hours after bringing up his name, Ryan Lantz would pass away as the result of a tragic accident at the school he loved with all of his being. He grew up in the Glenwood Hill community, near Adamston, in Clarksburg and was a 1990 graduate of Liberty High School.

 

That 1990 graduation meant Lantz was probably more in awe of Lockett at a younger age than I was being in the same class. Somewhere along the line, Lantz found out I graduated with Julius and also knew I was involved with the media.

 

Ryan reached out to me to help get the word out. In the exchange, he talked about an honor long overdue and, just as important, he wanted his basketball team to play in front of a big crowd. In other words, Lantz’s reason for doing it was because it was the right thing to do.

 

The right thing. As I was reminded this week maneuvering throughout social media, the right thing was Lantz’s mode of operation.

 

Understand, social media can be a cruel place. I always say I could post tomorrow I am mailing $1,000 checks to everyone in Harrison County and there would be complaints I am not providing direct deposit. The proof of Lantz truly being one of the good guys, from an outsider’s perspective, is among those tens of thousands of posts and comments, they were all positive. It all speaks to him repetitively doing the right thing.

 

I should point out I was an outsider. I have known Ryan since either late in high school or starting with my college days when I wrote about him as a pretty talented multi-sport athlete, particularly baseball, at Liberty. I have known him in recent years as a coach at various schools for various sports. We spoke when we saw one another, often about our beloved Steelers, but I saw only the shell of a beautiful life.

 

For those who had an insider’s perspective of that beautiful life, they likely are not surprised. Ryan was a father, husband, son, brother, pawpaw, and uncle in his private life. He was a coach, teacher, and pastor in his public life.

 

By all accounts, he wore each of those hats with passion. The common denominator that tied it all together was love.

 

It is Lantz’s public life that has not just a school, but an entire region and beyond in mourning. He was loved that much, respected that much at the multiple schools he taught, the multiple sports and age groups he coached, and the number of youths he pastored that has created a profound sense of loss and a void that cannot be filled.

 

One thing I tell people is that you cannot fool kids. Every type of student, from the ones who stand out to the ones who would rather not be there know when they are loved. They know when a teacher has their best interest at heart.

 

Ryan Lantz loved and was loved at every stop. Those kids came to the youth camps to hear a youth pastor preach. They wanted to be in his class to learn. They wanted to play for his team. They wanted to be around him because they knew he cared, and I am betting they knew he added fun to the mix.

 

My colleague Julie Perine, who is blessed to be inside the personal shell of the Lantz family, said it best to me Friday morning. “Ryan definitely had a soft spot in his heart for children.”

 

As noted above, those children he was involved with – whether teaching, coaching, or preaching – knew it. They are the ones who showed up in masses at a candlelight vigil the evening of his passing at Liberty’s football field to try and get a grip on raw emotions many in that age group had never been exposed to before.

 

I can only imagine if Ryan had his way, he would have played endless hours of 80s’ music with a rather good nod to classics by Prince to help ease the sting. Lantz certainly enjoyed his music.

 

I can assure you had Lantz been on that field he would have prayed with those students, and they would have listened. He was a youth pastor who did more than talk the talk. He walked the walk. The youth knew it, too.

 

I hope those students, those family members and friends, and even total strangers, took comfort in at the vigil knowing they were standing in the middle of a place that Ryan loved near the school he loved and had no problem being intimately associated with. It was on that field, for more than a decade, where Lantz and Coach AJ Harman did more than just try to win football games, they tried to build young men into good people. They did the same in the classroom.

 

Today, there will be more of those students and friends joining the family to say goodbye at Ryan’s funeral. For many, it will be the first view of Ryan’s family where he probably loved even harder. It will let them see as much as he gave to his professional life, he gave even more to his personal one.

 

The beauty of it is the family never minded sharing Ryan with everyone. He was a priceless gift to his community on so many fronts, but the embodiment of what every educator and coach strives for.

 

As for his shadow box, it is already complete. It is the building situated at 1 Mountaineer Way. And no matter what name is on that building in the future, Ryan Lantz’s legacy will be fully intact inside that building. The legacy is the best one; it is a legacy of love.

 

Rest in peace Ryan. Your work here is done.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Ryan Lantz in his element on both front - as a coach and working with a youngster. He is shown with his friend and Liberty head Coach AJ Harman in the second photo (top two photos courtesy of Harman). Third image, courtesy of Tommy Lopez, shows Lantz working with a youth baseball team, while he is shown coaching middle school hoops in the fourth photo (photo courtesy of Rachel Sammons Dodd). Bottom photo by Ben Queen Photography, shows Lantz during his time coaching the Liberty varsity basketball program. In the video below, from the Judson Baptist Church Camp YouTube page, Lantz gives a talk titled "What Should a Christian Look Like."