In what seemed like the blink of an eye to Pat Kimbrel, a 30-year teaching and coaching career dedicated to Oceanside unfolded.Kimbrel’s career, including the past 19 years as the Pirates’ athletic director, is winding down to a precious few days now.
Kimbrel, 57, will join his wife Glenda in retirement in about two weeks.
“I’m not counting days, but my wife is,” Kimbrel said, laughing. “She knows exactly how many days are left, probably how many hours.
“For the last year, every time the alarm goes off in the morning she’s reminded me that it’s not for her.”
There are 16 days remaining for Kimbrel, whose last day in charge is June 14. After that, longtime baseball coach Dave Barrett takes over as athletic director.
“He’s been around for so long that it seems hard to believe he won’t be,” Barrett said. “He leaves me some big shoes to fill because he got things done around here.”
Kimbrel can’t believe just how fast a career that seemed like it had plenty of time remaining before retirement has wound down.
“It’s right there now,” he said. “Back in September when the school year began it seemed like there was still too much time to worry about it. It was so far away.
“Not now. There’s some relief that it’s finally here and some anxiety about leaving.
“This final year has felt different than the others, right from the start. As athletic director you’re used to working around a healthy amount of stress, and now I’m not sure what I’m going to do without any stress.”
As for what he’ll do as a retiree to pass away the time, Kimbrel is not sure.
“I have no hobbies other than painting the inside and outside of my house,” he joked.
One thing for sure is he’s going to stay away from the Pirates’ athletic program for the first year to give Barrett a chance to establish his own identity running the department without any second-guessing.
Kimbrel graduated from Garfield High just south of Washington in Woodbridge, Va., in 1968 after moving there in 1966, the year the schools there underwent integration.
“Our town (Dumfries) was so small I think we had a barbershop and a post office,” said Kimbrel, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate. “My brother and I fought our way to school and fought our way home every day.”
At Oceanside, Kimbrel was the varsity football coach for five seasons until his son Beau became a freshman and he stepped aside to enjoy his playing career.
He also was an assistant coach under current head coach John Carroll and he was the varsity wrestling coach.
“What I’m going to miss the most are the kids,” Kimbrel said. “Seeing their faces light up when they do something well is worth it all.
“Their enthusiasm rubs off on you. They have kept me feeling young for a very long time.”
Kimbrel will retain his post as the chairman of the Oceanside High Foundation.
“No matter what,” he said, “I’ll always be a Pirate.”
Originally reported By NC Times by Terry Monahan- 5/28/07
This article first appeared online here.
Terry Monahan is a staff writer for the North County Times. He can be reached at (760) 739-6648 or tmonahan@nctimes.com.
