Olathe West assistant baseball coach dies after contracting COVID-19
An assistant baseball coach at Olathe West High School died Thursday after contracting COVID-19 according to a Twitter post from Olathe West principal Jay Novacek.
In the post Novacek remembered the coach, Derek Leppert, as “a larger than life figure in our community.”
In addition to coaching, Leppert worked in the school’s attendance office, according to Olathe school district spokesman Cody Kennedy.
“Whether it was coaching his life passion of baseball, giving students trouble for being late in the attendance office, arguing with moms for calling students out for lunch, or working basketball games at the pass gate — Lepp’s personality and booming east coast voice will be sorely missed at Olathe West,” Novacek wrote.
Leppert contracted coronavirus “a few weeks ago,” Novacek wrote, and died while he was recovering in a rehabilitation hospital. He had not been in the high school since classes went online in March.
According to the Olathe West website, Leppert coached at Blue Valley Southwest from 2013 to 2017 before joining the Olathe West staff.
Last year Leppert was named the American Baseball Coaches Association Assistant High School Coach of the year, the website said.
Olathe began the school year on Tuesday, with older students learning online and younger students returning to classes part-time. Last week, the Olathe school board agreed to allow high school sports to resume.
