By Mason Elms, Anthony Cann, Branson Gahan

Skagit County lost a role model on the morning of January 10th when Sedro-Woolley High School’s Brad Conn suddenly passed away at the age of 47.

“Caring, humorous, and great work ethic,” are words that describe Brad, says Todd Torgeson, “But just three words can’t describe all he has done for our community.”

Brad was a Security Director at Sedro-Woolley High School as well as a very successful coach. He was inducted into the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on November 22, 2015, not only because he was a great coach and developed kids’ skills, but because he also developed kids as people.

Brad spent 17 of his 47 years coaching baseball at Sedro-Woolley High School. He also worked at the high school as a Safety Director where he got to meet and interact with most, if not all the kids at the school

One thing that Brad did better than anyone else was that he connected with kids who didn’t have anyone supporting them.

“He would be there for anyone, no matter what the problem was,” said senior Bryce Backstrom.

Brad was a special type of person that touched many people’s lives. Anyone who sat down and had a real conversation with him would understand this.

“He was like a father to me, and all the other players,” said senior Ryan King, who was coached by Brad.

Senior Soonmin Jeong said, “For me he was my biggest role model and supporter. He had my back no matter what was going on. He always had time to talk to me about my problems and he genuinely cared about me.”

On countless occasions he would see kids who sat by themselves at lunch. Brad would make sure that he or one of his baseball players would sit with them, so it could brighten their day.

Brad was also well known for his Connisms, according to Kerri Carlton, Principal of Sedro-Woolley High School. For example, while helping people out he would say things like “Our job is to be like a duck, you work your butt off under the water and up top you are sitting pretty for everyone to see.”

He would use metaphors to describe everything. At some points people were perplexed by his metaphors. for thought. But the more one thought about what he said the more one understood it and the actual meaning of the metaphor.

Another Connism is “Two biggest decisions in a person’s life is who you will let in your car and whose car you will get in,” said Principal Kerri Carlton. Which means be careful who you let in your life and be careful who you’re with: choose your friends wisely.

When the community lost Brad it was a shock. He was about as good of a person as you could ever strive to be. He will never be forgotten. He is remembered by his wife Beverly, son Jackson, and daughter Riley.