Strike 1: If you knew John Haefeli, he touched your life in some way shape or form.
For me, John was a college baseball teammate at Colorado State University and a good friend for 47 years. He was that and much more for hundreds of others.
And for his hometown of Greeley.
A CSU graduate. An assistant baseball coach for the legendary Tom Petroff at UNC. A CHSAA basketball and baseball official. A teacher in the Greeley-Evans school district for three decades. A public servant from start to finish.
That was always the goal.
Last fall, John was told he had undefeatable pancreatic cancer. They gave him six to nine months to live. It didn’t take John long to decide to attack his disease and the rest of his life – including his bucket list – with an undefeatable sense of optimism.
He and his wife Delia traveled. John spent time fishing. He continued his work as an elected official, serving on the Board of Trustees for Aims Community College. He met with countless friends for countless lunches. And he got his first and only tattoo.
He wasn’t going to let cancer simply win. Others had to win first.
Since 1997, John has run the CHSAA Class 3A state baseball championships in Greeley. This year, they named the tournament after him. And even though he was severely weakened, he fulfilled that duty one final time this season.
He was cheering me on via text messages as the high school team I coach from Prospect Ridge Academy battled and tried to make it to the final eight so that we – so I – could compete in the John Haefeli Tournament.
We fell a game short.
“I was lighting candles on your behalf,” John texted me. “I am bummed.”
Me too.
But the tournament went on, and on the final day, with his alma mater University High School set to play for the state title, John was driven by a groundskeeper cart to a spot halfway between the mound and home plate at Butch Butler field. When the cart drove away, John defiantly walked back up the mound so he could deliver the ceremonial first pitch from the full 90 feet. He wound up and threw a one-hopper to the catcher before tipping his hat to the cheering crowd. Victorious, he got back in the cart and it returned him to the service shed where a comfortable chair and a dozen of his former college teammates and friends were waiting.
We each hugged John, took a group photo and then he waved goodbye as he and his caretakers left for the drive home.
Just a few hours later, having checked that last item off his bucket list, and with University and Coal Ridge completing a 14-inning contest in another part of town, John finally let go.
John Haefeli was 67 years young. Dan Mohrmann of Mile High Sports said it best: “I can’t think of a more badass way to go out.”
I have the recordings of our last conversation, which I used to write an article about John for the upcoming issue of Mile High Sports Magazine. When John and I got together to share stories and reminisce in mid-April, he had just passed that “sixth months” date his doctors had given him. He knew his time was short. He was worried about his wife Delia, and the toll this was taking on her. But he was mostly thankful for the life he’d been able to live.
So is everyone who knew him.
Strike 1: Northern Colorado’s John Haefeli and a life well lived Mile High Sports.
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