We are saddened to inform the Mount Union Athletics community of the passing of Bill Kirkwood, head golf coach, who joined the Mount Union community in 2014.
 
Born in Cleveland on July 24, 1959, Bill was the youngest of three children born to Ralph and Ruth Kirkwood. He went to school at Roosevelt Junior High School in Cleveland Heights. The family moved to Wooster in 1974 where Bill attended Wooster High School and graduated in 1977.
 
Bill earned an Associate Degree in accounting at Wooster Business College. From there, Bill worked in the family lumber business called Kenwood Lumber with his father and brother. With a passion for tennis, he went to nationals and continued playing for several years.
 
Golf was something that was in Bill's blood but hadn't come to the forefront until he was asked to be an assistant golf coach at the University of Mount Union. It was meeting and coaching the players that allowed Bill to see that this was his true passion. He took over as head golf coach of both the men's and women's golf teams for several years while taking the women's team to nationals three years in a row.
 
Making sure that players had all the tools and advantages they needed to be winners, Bill headed up the fundraising effort for a golf center at Mount Union. While volunteering at the U.S. Open one year, Bill had the privilege of meeting Annika Sorenstam and her caddy husband Mike McGee, who is a Mount Union alumnus.
 
At the height of Bill's career with Mount Union, he was taken ill and was diagnosed at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus with CLL/SLL, a form of lymphoma/leukemia. Even while receiving treatment at Summa Akron City, he continued to coach on a daily basis. Earlier this year, CNS, another rare form of lymphoma/leukemia, struck. In only a few short months, Bill lost his fight.
 
On July 25, 1992, Bill met the love of his life, Sue. Bill proposed on October 6, 1996, and they married on July 25, 1997, at Stan Hewitt Gardens in Akron. Mugsy is their beloved pet and also a mascot for the golf teams at Mount Union. Nancy Kerner is the oldest sister and has two children, Sarah and Michael Kerner. Ralph Kirkwood (Dixie) is the second in line of the siblings.
 
The Kirkwoods want to thank Life Care of Wooster for their amazing guidance and help throughout this process and everyone on the seventh floor in the M Building of Cleveland Clinic Main Campus for the support, love, and exceptional care given. Lastly, they thank their extended family at Mount Union for taking such good care of both of them and for being a lifeline throughout this journey.
 
Instead of cards and flowers, please make donations to Life Care of Wooster and also to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There are no calling hours but instead, the family asks that you sit quietly by yourself or in a group on October 6 at 6:30 p.m. and remember Bill.