Kevin Michael Hemphill, 57, passed away peacefully at his home in Strasburg, Colo., January 15, 2026, due to complications from pancreatic cancer.
Visitation and a Holy Rosary will be in Mundell Gymnasium at Strasburg High School at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, January 19. A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 21 at Our Lady of the Plains Catholic Church in Byers, Colo.
A graveside service and burial will be at South Star Cemetery in Graham County, Kan., at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 22. There will be a visitation prior to the service at 1 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Hill City, Kan.
Kevin was born November 17, 1968, in Fort Morgan, Colo., to Delmer and Charlene (Desiato) Hemphill.
In 1974, Kevin began his own long-standing association with Strasburg Schools, enrolling in kindergarten with the future Class of 1987, where many lifelong friendships began.
As part of Strasburg’s student body, Kevin excelled in a variety of capacities, including academics, where he was named valedictorian of his senior class, as a musician – he played trombone in the band – and also in athletics, where he was a three-sport letterman.
Kevin was a starting running back and linebacker for the first Strasburg football team to reach the state quarterfinals in the school’s 11-man era. In basketball, he played point guard on the first Indians team to reach the state tournament in 38 years. He was also a distance runner who qualified for state in 1986 and was part of the 1987 track team that won the state championship.
Kevin’s academic success continued at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan., where he graduated summa cum laude in 1991. He also got involved with athletic external operations for the first time, serving as the PA announcer for the Bethany Swedes baseball team.
After graduating, Kevin accepted a job as a middle school math teacher in Hill City, Kan., where he also served as an assistant coach for the Ringneck’s football and boys basketball teams. There, he met the love of his life, Karla Zohner. They married July 17, 1993, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Hill City. In 1994, Kevin and Karla left Hill City when they accepted positions in Belleville, Kan., where Kevin’s coaching duties included serving as an assistant on the Buffaloes’ 1995 state championship football team, as the head tennis coach and girls basketball assistant coach. In 1997, Kevin and Karla moved to Wichita, Kan., where Kevin earned a master’s degree at Wichita State University. Kevin and Karla welcomed daughter Josie Ann Marie to the family January 24, 1999.
Kevin returned home when he was hired in the fall of 2000 to teach math at Strasburg High School. For the next 25 years, he taught, coached and mentored hundreds of SHS students, always looking for that special connection that might help steer each student in the right direction.
Kevin and Karla’s family also grew by two after moving to Strasburg. They welcomed Alexander Jerard 'A.J.' in 2002, and Cade Michael in 2007.
As a coach, Kevin preferred serving as an assistant coach, mostly for the boys basketball and track teams. But he also was in charge of the cross country program for several seasons.
During football season, Kevin worked as one of his dad’s spotters in the booth on Friday nights. When Del passed away in 2004, the school district renamed the press box in his honor and Kevin succeeded his father as 'The Voice of the Indians.'
While his other school assignments outside of football changed on occasion, his job on Friday nights — keeping the home and visiting fans appraised of the game’s progression — was never altered.
In those 20 seasons, Strasburg won two state championships and reached the finals four other times. And just like his dad had the chance to call his son’s name after a key tackle or the occasional big offensive play, Kevin got to do the same, first for A.J., and then for Cade.
When Covid-19 restrictions forced schools to restrict 'nonessential' attendees to sporting events, Kevin made sure those stuck at home still had access to the Indians by establishing the school’s YouTube channel and securing the necessary equipment to produce a live broadcast.
In the spring of 2020, he produced the first episodes of 'The Coaching Story, With Kevin Hemphill,' a podcast that began with him interviewing fellow Strasburg High coaches, but later evolved into more than 40 episodes that celebrated colleagues in Eastern Colorado and beyond.
In his final years at Strasburg, Kevin took on some new roles, including serving as the district’s athletic director for two years, bus driver, and teaching several non-math courses before retiring after the 2024-25 school year.
Kevin was a member of Our Lady of the Plains Catholic Church. He was an inaugural member of Knights of Columbus Council 13221, where he served in a number of capacities, including Grand Knight.
Kevin is survived by his family: Karla, Josie, A.J. and wife, Grace, and Cade of Strasburg; brother Steven (Brenda) of Salem, Va., and sister Michelle Forbis (Barry) of Strasburg; father- and mother-in-law Joe and Ruth Zohner of Penokee, Kan.; brothers-in-law Justin (Courtney) of Hill City, Kan., and Adam (Emma) Zohner of Houston; sister-in-law Anne Maxwell and her husband – who Kevin quickly adopted as his second brother – Doug Maxwell of Andale, Kan.; and 9 nieces and 3 nephews.
Kevin was preceded in death by his parents, maternal grandparents Charles and Sylvia (Fraterelli), and paternal grandparents Janice (Quillen) Patrick, John Patrick and Burton Hemphill.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Strasburg High School Athletic Department, to provide equipment to students who are financially challenged, or to the Strasburg Parks and Recreation Department for sports fee scholarships.