Lincoln Park District recognizes John Kocka
 

[July 13, 2019]  LINCOLN - The Lincoln Park District board of commissioners and staff wanted to honor John Kocka one of the long-time seasonal employees by naming the new T-Ball field at the Lincoln Recreational Center John Kocka Field.

John and his wife Jean have two sons John and Dan. Both sons attended local schools while growing up in Lincoln. John took a teaching position at Carroll Catholic grade school in 1973 and spent 40 years teaching and coaching. Thirty-seven of those years John also served as Athletic Director at the school. In the classroom he taught Social Studies, Science and Physical Education until 2014 when he retired.

During his tenure at Carroll he served as a basketball coach from 1973 to 1995. John’s teams won two state championships in 1977 and 1986. He also coached baseball from 1974 to 2005.

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When John joined the Lincoln Park District summer staff in 1986, his main job was developing a T-Ball program for the kids. He spent 10 years running the program and it is basically the same program in use today. After handing off that program, his duties evolved into general maintenance of parks and baseball fields.

John retired from the park district in March of 2019 and he and his wife Jean moved to Swansea to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Thanks, John, for your dedication and years of service to the Lincoln Park District and the community. Best of luck to you and your family.

[John Andrews
Executive Director
Lincoln Park District]