Kenneth “Kenno” Shoaf at the Salisbury-Rowan Sports Hall of Fame inductions in 2017. He received the Fred M. Evans Community Service Award. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw.
SALISBURY – Funeral services for Kenneth “Kenno” Shoaf were held on Tuesday.
He died at 69 on May 14.
Thirty-eight years of working for the YMCA made Shoaf an iconic figure in the Salisbury sports world. He had a kind word, a quick smile and a hearty fist-bump for everyone he met, and he was one of those rare people folks was universally loved.
What made Shoaf legendary, a Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Famer, is that he managed to be a positive influence on thousands of young people – from a wheelchair.
He was a living, breathing example of “Never give up.” It was difficult for anyone to feel sorry for themselves when they saw Shoaf handling each new day with a smile. He was tough. He was quietly strong. He never complained. He used to say if he could go back in time, he would only change one day in his life. Other than that, he was pleased with what he was able to accomplish.
Salisbury attorney James Davis eulogized Shoaf on social media after his deeath as a “lighthouse” and that’s an apt description.
Shoaf’s accident happened back in the summer between his sophomore and junior years of high school at West Rowan. He was a 16-year-old with a brand new car and had a lot going for him. He was a typical, sports-crazy teen. He competed on the football and track and field teams at West, and he enjoyed playing basketball and softball in church leagues.
On July 5, Shoaf was swimming with friends in the backyard pool. He dove straight down into the pool and broke his spinal cord. That dive made him a quadriplegic with no use of his limbs and no feeling below his chest.
He was in Rowan Memorial Hospital for two months. A long rehab process in Charlotte followed his local hospital stay.
Shoaf did have limited arm movement, and he learned to use his curved fingers to hold a fork or a mug. He mastered those skills just in time, as his weight had dropped from 230 pounds to 118 and desperate doctors were preparing to feed him through tubes.
Slowly, Shoaf began to navigate his new life. Family helped him get out of bed in the morning and back to bed at night.
He realized there were things he could still do. He could talk to friends. He could watch TV. There were reasons to keep going.
In time, he re-learned how to use a phone and how to button his shirt. He could still study, and when he finally finished with long months of rehab, he made up his mind to go back to school for his senior year. He graduated from West Rowan with the Class of 1975 – he didn’t miss a single day of school that year – and then he continued his education at Rowan Tech.
Meeting Stan Osteen during his rehab changed the direction of Shoaf’s life. As a college student, Osteen was working as an orderly in the Charlotte hospital where Shoaf’s rehab took place.
Osteen went to work at the Salisbury Y as the program director after he graduated college.
Osteen and Shoaf encountered each other again at a youth league football game, and Osteen told Shoaf to come to the Y, that there were lots of things he could do. He told him he would put him to work.
That was in 1978. That was the beginning of Shoaf’s career at the YMCA.
When Osteen eventually left the Y, a lot of responsibilities, including adult programs director, were entrusted to “Kenno.”
Shoaf’s duties eventually included Youth Game Room director, Fun Camp, Gray-Y, Church League basketball supervisor, Industrial League scorekeeper, After-School program counselor, Adult Church League volleyball supervisor and Open Gym supervisor.
He directed leagues and tournaments. He learned to type with a pencil he held in his mouth. He made schedules, found sponsors and reported scores and standings to the newspaper. He coached YMCA teams in volleyball, baseball and basketball. He won championships.
He refereed volleyball matches. He volunteered his time to help with Special Olympics.
His mother drove Shoaf to his YMCA job, at first, but eventually he drove himself in a specially equipped van.
When Shoaf retired from the YMCA in the summer of 2017, a lot of people he had coached, mentored or befriended, were there to thank him, to give him a hug and have their picture taken with him. The YMCA basketball court was designated “Kenno’s Court” — with his name in Carolina blue. He was a devoted fan of the UNC Tar Heels.
Mayor Karen Alexander praised him that day as “an ambassador of goodwill” and a “treasure,”
“You stand taller than the rest of us,” Davis told him. “Kenno, your shadow looms large, and you will be remembered for a thousand years.”
