KEVIN SHILLCOX

Kevin was a guy I met back in 5th grade. I was hanging around with Chad Daffner in those days. And Kevin was his neighbor.

Kevin was in 6th grade at the time. Despite my friendship with Chad, he and I didn't really get along. We more-or-less tolerated each other. I do remember one day that the three of us (and a few others) all went fishing in the river behind the gravel pits. Someone actually caught one. And Kevin took it home and started to gut it on his picnic table.

Below is a picture from the Magee playground. Kevin is being grabbed by Mark Ciha. Jenny Malley is also in the front. And in back, on the left, is Richard Wheeler. If you look in the near distance on the right, you can see Nikki Baugniet and Rod Lumaye.



Kevin's family must have been obsessed with "K" names. There was class of 1986's Kirk, class of 1988's Ken (who I don't think actually graduated) and class of 1993's Kory a.k.a. "Beaner." There was also a Karen Shillcox from the class of 1987. I don't honestly know if she was his sister. But I'm guessing that she was.

Because of the one-grade diffeence, my memories of Kevin are very slim. But I do recall that in 7th grade, I had him in study hall. The study halls were a mix of 7th and 8th graders. Anyway, he was in the backroom (Mr. Longhini's class) with class of 1988's Brad Anderson. Something happened back there, and Kevin shot out of there, chasing Brad, and shaking a package of Clorox at him. I think Brad had doused Kevin with it first. The two of them got a detention for that.

In my sophomore year (Kevin's junior year) I was in Mr. Ertman's class. Before class started one day, he asked Chad Bennin to tell everyone what had happened to Kevin. The two of them worked together at Stoehr Dairy. And an accident befell Kevin. I don't recall the details. But apparently Kevin's foot somehow got lodged inside some big machine. It either ripped it right off, or severed it so badly that it needed to be amputated. According to Chad, some bone marrow got into Kevin's bloodstream, which almost kiled him.

For obvious reasons, Kevin missed the rest of that school year. But he came back the next year. And he was then a junior, just as we were. He had been fitted for a false foot, and walked with a noticable limp - although he walked pretty good considering what had happened to him.

At some point, Kevin began dating fellow graduate Brenda Linzmeier. The romance has lasted to this day. They are married and live in Two Rivers. I believe Kevin works as a machinist. I think they have three kids. If you search online, you will find that Kevin is also involved in some local car races. I found two pictures. Both are small. In the top one, he's on the right. It looks like he's lost a lot of hair.





UPDATE - 6/18/07 - Thanks to Shannon Koch for providing these photos of Kevin from graduation day, June 4th, 1989. Tina Short is walking with him in one of the photos.