Class of '96, EX-LAX parents

We remember Mike as our son's coach and mentor, a friend and a financial planner for our old age. When our son came home his freshman year in '92 and said he wanted to play lacrosse because "you get to hit people with sticks" we were concerned. At the first parent meeting when we read the permission to play lacrosse form and the warning in the helmet that playing this sport could result in death, we were alarmed. We found out about the mandatory spring break practice and talked to Mike about Ron missing it as we had already paid for Aviation Challenge at Space Camp because it was less expensive than summer time and Mike said he understoodand realized our financial point of view but he also saw Ron's great desire to play. Then we began to realize the full scope of what Mike's influence would be on Ron. Ron opted to not miss spring break and earn his own way to the summer session. This made Mike proud and he knew then that he had a captured the heart of a dedicated lacrosse player.

To borrow a line from a Jack Nicholson movie, he made each of his players "want to be a better man". He taught them discipline and hard work and dedication as a team and Tommy Coons told them at the end of practice to go home and tell their moms that they love them. What a pair those coaches were. The players gave up summer weeks to go to camps to improve their game because they wanted to prove to Mike they wanted to be better. In the summer of '95 they went to camp as a team and in the '96 season it all paid off with the first state championship.

We remember the team road trips and the infamous coaches/parent "meetings" where Mike and Tommy went over the "game strategy". Mike always made the parents feel part of the team package. He knew he needed us just as much as we needed him in guiding our sons. He was always very open and honest when he talked to us about our boys. After graduation one parent dubbed the class of '96 the Ex-Lax parents.

But, as was the case with many of the young men, lacrosse did not end at graduation for Ron or us for that matter. Ron went on to coach freshmen at DeSmet and when Parkway South needed a head coach Mike gave them a glowing recommendation for Ron. The board president asked us to convince him to take the job and so we said to Ron, "Don't you want your brother to have the same opportunity that you had to play for and be coached by someone like Mike, to share your passion with him as Mike did for you?" and that was all it took. He wanted to recreate in some way, but in his own way too, what he experienced at DeSmet. He wanted others, if not directly from Mike, through him, to be influenced by what Mike had taught him. And we continue to observe him passing on the legacy at SLUH.

As financial clients Mike always made us feel important to him and that our financial future meant something personal to him. I remember when he first started quoting numbers about my coverage being lower than Ron Sr's because I had not worked in a while and at my age, that even reentering the work force I would not likely be making a big salary(his financial planner explanation) Well, being hit with cold facts that tell you in so many words or numbers that you are worth less can be a little depressing and I couldn't pass up the chance to give him some grief about it so I said, "So Mike, you are saying that my life's contribution to this date is not worth a whole lot and my future contribution is not going to amount to alot either? That I am too old and past my prime? Well that sure doesn't give a person a lot of insentive does it?" You should have seen his face and heard the stuttering. I guess he never looked at those figures the same way again.

I think that Mike's life, from all the accounts I have read, was exactly like the game of lacrosse.
Like the game his life was in perpetual motion, running one intricate play after another, counting on those around him to feed him the ball(give him a player to work with, a client to serve, a kid to council, an opponent to beat) so he could score one for the team.
He interwove his coaching, his faith, his job, his social life together and made them gel just as he made his DeSmet team gel year after year even though players came and went. He would teach his players to face off in life and come up with the win in the end. He knew how to clear the problems and end up settling them and setting up his next play. He knew how to attack life and he always knew he was part of a bigger team. He told the team to give something back and so many have done just that. Mike led by example and when he taught our boys to say "count on me" it was not just a motivational war cry to begin their game, it was a paraphrase of Mike's whole life.

Mr and Mrs Sennett, we thank you for raising such a great guy and lending us your son. We will miss everything about you Mike and our lives are better for having known you, even if it was for too short a time. Ron & Jackie Kelam