MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Family and friends said their final farewells Monday to a substitute teacher killed in a shooting at a private religious school in Wisconsin last week, describing her as a devout Christian with Southern roots who made copious notes in her personal Bible and planned to take her children to Disney World next year.
Erin Michelle West, 42, was killed on Dec. 16 when 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow opened fire with a handgun at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison. A 14-year-old student, Rubi Vergara, also was killed and six others were wounded before Rupnow turned the gun on herself. Rupnow was a first-semester student at the school. Investigators are still trying to piece together her motive.
Scores of people attended West's midday funeral at Doxa Church in Fitchburg, a Madison suburb. West's casket was set up before a stage decorated with Christmas trees adorned with golden lights. A giant photograph of her was displayed on a screen above the stage throughout the hourlong service.
Rob Warren, the church's pastor, fought back tears as he welcomed people.
“In a sense, no one wants to be here,” he said. “But in another sense I believe we're all supposed to be here right now, to hurt and heal together. As painful as it is, I believe we really all do need this moment.”
According to West's obituary, she was born in St. Charles, Missouri, and graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2005. She married her husband, Jack, in 2005, in Powder Springs, Georgia. The couple has three daughters.
Warren read several verses from West's personal Bible, remarking on all the handwritten notes and underlined sections throughout. He said that after Jack West gave him the Bible, the first page he turned to had the phrase “the Gospel is for everyone” written in blue ink.
“This is what Erin West was about,” the pastor said, adding later: “Erin is in heaven right now with Jesus and she's more alive than she ever has been and that's the truth.”
Nate Kaloupek, Doxa Church's director of leadership development and equipping, gave a short elegy, describing how Erin met Jack in an online Christian chatroom and how Jack's company, Cardinal Glass, moved the couple around the country, first to Oklahoma and the Pacific Northwest before they settled in Wisconsin about six years ago.
Struggling at times to find his voice, Kaloupek said Erin loved the fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A and she showed her Georgia roots often by quipping "love y'all” or “hey, y'all."
He joked that Erin was “really bad” at hiding her emotions and felt God had called her to work at ALCS. She led prayers for people in their church group and tracked what prayers were answered, he said.
She loved camping trips with her family, wine-tasting trips with her husband and was looking forward to taking their daughters to Disney World this spring, he added, before concluding the elegy with: “She'd want me to say ‘love y’all.' Thank you.”
Erin Michelle West's casket sits at the altar of DOXA Church on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Fitchburg, Wis. (Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
People raise their hands during song at the funeral for Erin Michelle West on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 at DOXA Church in Fitchburg, Wis. (Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Nate Kaloupek, a friend of Erin Michelle West and staff member at DOXA Church, speaks at her funeral on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Fitchburg, Wis. (Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
The WNBA now has all of its head coaching spots filled after there were a record seven open positions this offseason.
Dallas named Chris Koclanes as its head coach on Monday and then an hour later Washington hired Sydney Johnson as its new head, rounding out the seven hirings.
There's no common thread among the seven hires as three were former college head coaches (Karl Smesko, Lynne Roberts and Johnson), two were WNBA assistants (Koclanes and Tyler Marsh) and one is an international coach (Rachid Meziane).
Stephanie White is the only former WNBA head coach to get one of the positions as she moved from Connecticut to Indiana.
With the addition of Golden State next season, which hired Natalie Nakase as it's coach, the 13 teams will have seven women in charge and six men.
At the end of the 2022 season, half of the 12 head coaches in the league were Black. Three years later that number is down to three with Seattle's Noelle Quinn the only Black female left after Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago) and Tanisha Wright (Atlanta) were fired. Nakase is the first Asian American to lead a WNBA franchise.
Two of the openings did go to Black men in Johnson and Marsh.
The WNBA now does have three Black general managers with Morgan Tuck in Connecticut, Ohemaa Nyanin in Golden State and Jamila Wideman in Washington.
Here's a look at the eight new coaches in the WNBA:
Smesko comes to the WNBA after spending 23 years at Florida Gulf Coast. He had the third highest winning percentage (.829) among active coaches, trailing only UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey. His teams have constantly been near the top in the country in 3-point shooting and the Dream have talented players in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.
Marsh heads to the Sky after a successful stint as an assistant coach in Las Vegas, helping the Aces win consecutive championships in 2022 and 2023. Marsh inherits a squad led by talented post players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky also have the No. 3 pick in next year’s WNBA draft.
Meziane comes to the WNBA after coaching professionally in France for many years as well as leading Belgium's national team. Belgium came in fourth at the Paris Olympics this past summer. He inherits a team in flux with many of its top players unrestricted free agents.
Koclanes worked with new GM Curt Miller in Connecticut on his staff from 2016-22 and helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals in 2019 and 2022. Miller was hired as the Wings’ general manager last month. The Wings have the No. 1 pick in the draft next April as well as a strong nucleus headlined by Arike Ogunbowale.
Nakase is the first coach in the expansion franchise's history. She had a lot of success as an assistant in Las Vegas and the franchise got its initial set of players through the expansion draft earlier this month. The Valkyries, who have the No. 5 pick in the draft, also are expected to be active in free agency which begins next month.
White came back to the Fever after leading the Connecticut Sun the last two seasons. She has a stellar young core to work with led by the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year winners, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. White has decided she has some unfinished business to complete in her second stint as Indiana’s head coach.
Roberts is returning to her native California after spending nine seasons in charge of Utah where she went 165-116. She was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023. She inherits a team that has a strong young nucleus of Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. The Sparks have the No. 2 pick in next year’s WNBA draft.
Johnson has worked with USA Basketball over the past five years as well as being an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky last season. Before that the 50-year-old Princeton grad spent eight years as head coach of Fairfield University men’s team (2011-2019), leading the Stags to four postseason appearances. He inherits a team led by Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Ariel Atkins.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - Florida Gulf Coast head coach Karl Smesko, left, watches play on the court during a first-round college basketball game against Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament, March 23, 2024, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler, File)
FILE - Belgium head coach Rachid Meziane, center right, hugs Antonia Delaere (6) during a women's quarterfinal game against Spain at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
FILE - Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White shouts instructions to her players during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury, July 1, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - Las Vegas Aces interim head coach Tyler Marsh, center, looks on during a timeout in the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Seattle Storm, May 20, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
FILE - Connecticut Sun assistant coach Chris Koclanes, center, talks with players during a timeout at a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics, May 28, 2021, in Uncasville, Conn. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day via AP, File) )
FILE - Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Louisville in the semifinal round of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., Nov. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
FILE - New Los Angeles Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts fields questions during a news conference for the WNBA basketball team Nov. 21, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
