Obituary of Charles Ray Besselman

Charles Besselman, dedicated coach to kids For the record, his name was Charles. Throughout the 26 years during which he shaped the hearts and minds of young baseball players in Northern Kentucky - many of whom visited his Walton home long after leaving his teams - Charles Ray Besselman Sr. was simply "Coach." At least a couple of former players a year would come by the house without much of an agenda but to say hello and catch up. "When they saw him, it would be 'Hey, Coach, what's goin' on, Coach?' " his wife, Valerie, said. "They felt comfortable to come by if they had a question, baseball or personal. "He loved to be able to do that," she said. "One of the things I was most proud of, he never turned a player away." Mr. Besselman, 50, who coached Little League, Cal Ripken Jr. League and Knothole baseball in Erlanger and then Walton, died Sunday at St. Luke West Hospital in Florence.. He spent his last day like he had so many that preceded it. "He watched a doubleheader yesterday. He was on the side giving pitching tips, showing them how to grip the ball," Valerie Besselman recalled. "He died a happy man. We wish we would have had him a lot longer." Born and raised in Yuma, Ariz., Mr. Besselman was an unlikely candidate to put down firm roots in the baseball fields of Northern Kentucky. In the 1970s, he was a member of the Army's 101st Airborne stationed at Fort Campbell. He fell in love with fishing, hunting, the change of seasons, and a Kentucky girl named Valerie Conley, whom he married in 1978. "Thankfully, I met him," she recalled. They moved to Northern Kentucky and raised two sons and a daughter. The boys were active in sports, especially baseball, starting when the older son joined tee ball. Eventually, "Coach" enjoyed guiding high-school age kids the most, sometimes coaching his sons, often not. An admittedly tough coach at times, he pushed his players. He also took them to play in youth baseball tournaments from Michigan to Atlanta, making sure that every player went regardless of financial means. He was the one organizing the fund-raising efforts, including car washes. He worked as a fabricator for a pipe and tubing company but was on disability in recent years. He left coaching two years ago. "He was committed to his family, and he was there," his wife said. "He never missed a baseball game or a basketball game." He also was a big fan of the Reds and a bigger fan of the Bengals. "Anything Cincinnati," she said. "He would dissect the game for hours. He would drive me nuts." A brother, David Besselman, died in 1996, and a grandson died in 2006. Other survivors include sons, Charles R. "Jay" Besselman Jr. of Dry Ridge and Sean Cody Besselman of Walton; a daughter, Heather Ferguson of Walton; a brother, Rufus Kennedy III of Crittenden; his parents, JoAnn and Rufus Kennedy Jr. of Independence; and six grandchildren. Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Chambers and Grubbs Funeral Home, Florence, is handling arrangements.