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Southern's Walter touched many with his caring
Two honored at 2016 game in his memory
By BRIAN DZENIS
NEW MIDDLETOWN
If somebody needed their truck pulled out of mud, a ride to school or the Heimlich maneuver, Marcus Walter was there to lend a hand.
That’s how friends, family and coaches remember the late Southern Local football player.
Walter died on June 25, 2015. The 19-year-old was driving to the final practice before the 36th Stateline Classic Football game when his truck crossed the center line and collided with an oncoming vehicle.
At the 37th Stateline Classic on June 30, Marcus’ parents, Dwayne and Kristen Walter, were honored in a pre-game ceremony. The Quad-County Football Coaches donated $250 scholarships to Southern’s Jesse McClurg and Alex Smith in Marcus’ name.
“It helps out tremendously to know that there’s all kinds of support out there and everything, but it’s hard, I don’t wish it on anybody,” Dwayne said.
A LIFE FOR SERVICE
Kristen Walter remembers her son starting to follow his father to the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department at age 6. The place became a second home for him.
“He’s definitely one of ours, he was at every call,” said Jim May, the chief of Franklin Township’s fire department. “When we had a call in his area, he was there and all our training and everything.”
According to the Ohio affiliate of the U.S. Census Bureau, Franklin Township has 807 residents. In a community that small, things are close-knit and no has just one connection. That was the case for Marcus’ career in the firehouse and on the football field. Dwayne and May coached Marcus through the youth ranks.
“He enjoyed supporting his community and he enjoyed the fire service as a team, same way as football. He was all in with a team,” May said. “He was a really good kid as far as community support, helping the community, helping the elderly and helping out the fire department. He just wanted to help people out.”
Marcus usually was confined to the firehouse when serious calls came in when he was younger. As he got older, he took on more responsibilities. He started to travel with and assist EMS personnel to calls, By the time he was a senior, he could handle a few minor calls as a first responder. His parents said he was trained in the Heimlich maneuver, CPR and proper use of an AED. He helped a choking patron at a restaurant and has also taken
“He was really cool under pressure, he could handle himself in any situation,” Kristen said. “We never worried about him, he always took charge.”
A month before his death, May said Marcus graduated from being a junior firefighter to being a recruit with the department.
Dwayne succinctly summed up his family’s — and Marcus’ — mentality.
“We usually help out whoever we can,” Dwayne said.
A duty to his team
Two years ago, Chris Short moved across the street from Marcus in his sophomore year. All it took was asking his new neighbor and Southern teammate for a ride to school for the pair to strike up a friendship.
Marcus had a knack for getting to know people, Short said.
“He was really involved everywhere,” Short said. “Anytime he went some place, he knew somebody and started talking to them.”
Just as he took on bigger roles within Franklin Township’s Fire Department, he grew into a leadership role while playing for the Indians.
“He was ornery as a freshman like all kids are, he was boisterous and he enjoyed that atmosphere of being a freshman,” said former Southern coach Mike Skrinjar, who coached Marcus in his senior season. “By the time he was a senior, he developed into a great leader and someone that you can depend on.
“He has left an idea of how you’re supposed to be an Indian and he bought into that,” Skrinjar said.
A year after his death, Marcus’ story still resonates at Southern. The high school team ended its practices with one of his sayings: “chest up, eyes up, prayed up.”
During the season, Short had Marcus’ initials stamped on his cleats.
“They never came off, I had them all season,” Short said.
The junior high team, which Skrinjar now coaches, closed out its season by running through a hoop with more of Marcus’ quotes.
Marcus wanted to be a wide receiver with the Indians, but a lack of depth forced him to become a two-way lineman, Skrinjar said. Southern struggled in Marcus’ final two seasons, going a combined 3-17, including a 1-9 campaign his senior year.
What kept the team going was a sense that the players had to represent their school. Also, this is what they enjoyed, results notwithstanding.
“We just all loved football and we wanted to go out and play every night,” Short said. “The team didn’t have the numbers or the size, but we just wanted to play.”
Marcus finally got his wish to catch a few passes the following summer after his senior season. Skrinjar put up Marcus a tight end for the Stateline Classic and he was accepted.
“He was so ecstatic. It was something he had in his mind from the get go,” Skrinjar said.
A LIFELONG DREAM
Marcus’ uncle, Pete Walter, played in the Stateline Classic in 1985. While some high school football players take a lax attitude about practicing for a June football game, Marcus took the Classic seriously. Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor recalled Marcus as one of the first kids to show up to practice.
“The biggest thing was how appreciative and happy he was to make the game. It was something he always wanted to do.
“He went to the game all the time as a kid and for him, it was just a privilege to represent his school and to represent his community,” said Connor, who coached the Ohio 2015 team. “Sometimes I don’t think kids get the gravity of playing in an all-star game that it’s not just about them.
“They represent their coach. They represent their school and their teammates, what an honor it is to make an all-star team, but he really did. He was so happy to be there.”
Skrinjar recalled Marcus as somebody who took practice seriously, regardless of the stakes. There was a time when the coach thought he was going to be late to a practice because his truck got stuck in mud.
Who does the coach know that would drop everything to help him out?
“Of all people to call, I called Marcus and he’d be here immediately,” Skrinjar said. “I knew he was reliable and someone that I could count on and he was right there. Those are some of the best memories I have of him, he took care of his head coach.”
After that fateful practice, Connor said it was difficult to balance being an impromptu grief counselor and a football coach, especially when some kids knew Marcus better than others.
“I think it’s hard for boys that age to really communicate about how they feel about things and we had such a short time to do it,” Connor said.
Before the June 30 game, which ended in 34-20 victory for Pennsylvania, the Ohio side got a visit from Marcus’ sister, Marissa. While Marcus wouldn’t catch a pass, she could convey how important that game was to him.
“She talked about what kind of kid he was and how bad he wanted to play and how excited he was,” Connor said. “I can’t imagine talking about your sibling to a bunch of strangers and in an emotional moment where she had his jersey on.
“You talk about dealing with adversity, man, she did it.”
The rest of the Walter family stayed home for the game.
“She was strong for him,” Kristen said. “She knew he wanted to be here and she wanted to be there for him.”
Community impact
For the previous year, the Walter family has been grateful from the support they’ve received from the community after losing Marcus.
“They’ve been a lot of help through everything, especially the fire department and the coaches and school and all that,” Dwayne said.
His family, former coaches, comrades at the fire department and teammates all say he made the most of his life because he spent all of it helping others.
“There wasn’t much that he wouldn’t do for anybody,” Dwayne said. “He was outgoing and he loved everything he did. He did it with a passion.”