KRAFCISIN - HE'S A HAPPY BOONE GUY

     We're in the midst of the college basketball season and that spurs Final Four talk. The Kornerman is wondering how many viewers are aware that a Boone resident holds a very distinctive Final Four record?
     Des Moines Area Community College basketball coach Steve Krafcisin is the ONLY player in NCAA history to play and to score in two Final Four tournaments with two different teams.
     In 1977, he was a member of a North Carolina five and in 1980, a member of a State University of Iowa five that both participated in Final Four competition.
     This is coach Krafcisin's 14th season in Boone and at DMACC and recently, his team posted his 300th victory. He's coached four All American's here.
     Krafcisin certainly has an All American coaching resume. After his playing days, he served as an assistant coach at Loras College in Dubuque and as a member of both Johnny's Orr's and Tim Floyd's staff at Iowa State University.
     His head coaching career began at North Central Iowa Community College in Mason City and has continued at DMACC in Boone.
     After being in basketball's "bright lights" such as North Carolina, the University of Iowa and with basketball legends Johnny Orr and Tim Floyd, you'd have to wonder if Boone and DMACC provides "enough satisfaction." Obviously, in Steve's mind, it does.
     In the Monday edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, sports writer J. R. Ogden penned a great article about Krafcisin titled, "Steve Krafcisin finds joy in unexpected place."
     Ogden wrote, "He was on a trajectory to becoming a Division I men's basketball head coach when  his wife, Joanne, gave birth to their first son on Dec. 31, 1996. He heard regrets from colleagues who missed watching their children grow and made a life-changing decision. "I didn't want that," he said.""
     The story tells that Krafcisin had lots of opportunities to "move up" and even coach Floyd and others thought he was "nuts" for not pursuing them. Instead, he started a seven-year stint as a junior college men's coach at NCICC. His move to Boone and DMACC as a women's coach, followed.
     Krafcisin was quoted by Ogden as saying, "I've been able to coach, I've been able to affect young people's lives. That's what its all about."
     The switch from coaching men to women was different at first. Ogden wrote, "he (Krafsicin) had a lot to learn, like coaching women was more about teaching and less about emotions. "I really like the relationships," Steve said. "I love the interaction. Once the girls believe in you, they'll do anything for you. They've taught me as much as I've taught them.""
     Ogden concluded, "no regrets?" "I never wavered," Krafsicin answered. "This is the place I'm' supposed to be. I'm ecstatic and very humbled.""
     A wonderful story by Ogden about a great coach and an even greater person.
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     In a recent edition, the Kornerman joked, "I finally realized it, people are prisoners of their phone.That's why it's called a "cell" phone."
     Vern Modeland, BHS-50, had this reply. "One of my early and dear friends here in the woods and hills along the Arkansas border with Missouri (also defined as the Mason-Dixon line) was a fiercly independent named Fannabelle Nichole. She warned me early on about telephones and life,"just cause it rings, I don't have to answer it." Have a good 2019 Mo and keep the news coming."
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     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Jodie Holley Peel, 62, Des Moines. Born in Boone. Her parents were Ray and Ruth Holley..........Joe Caffrey, 88, Boone. BHS-48. Army vet. Colorado Business College. In 1956, he married Jane Scheerer McMullan. Joe served as a Boone city councilman and was involved in many other community activities. He was a business owner of Caffrey Wholesale, which operated in Boone for 107 years. Boone area survivors include his sons, Kelly McMullan and Jim Caffrey of Boone, Dan McMullan of Moingona and John Caffrey of Des Moines. One sister also survives.........Gladys Ripley, 100, Ames. Boone area survivor is a son, Merwyn Ripley and Merwyn's wife, Nancy Hicks Ripley, BHS-61, of Nevada.
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     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments......
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.