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Giving the gifts of life and of education
On Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, with his wife at his side, Ryan Daniel Wilcoxen, 31, passed away at Community South Hospital in Greenwood.
A 2008 graduate of Eastern Greene High School in Greene County, Wilcoxen led the Eastern Greene Thunderbirds baseball team to their only semi-state appearance in school history and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health and was pursuing a master’s degree in special education.
Wilcoxen worked and coached at Edinburgh High School, Eminence Jr./Sr. High School, Eastern Greene High School, Brown County Jr./Sr. High School and Owen Valley High School.
He was a special education teacher and the varsity baseball coach at Owen Valley High School at the time of his unexpected death, which resulted from the effects of a hematoma Wilcoxen suffered on his brain.
Wilcoxen leaves behind his wife, Ashley, and two young daughters, Grace and Delaney.
Ashley Wilcoxen made a brave and heroic decision that day. Reeling from the shock of the sudden loss of her athletic, healthy husband, she set aside her suffering to honor the wishes of her beloved husband and made the decision to donate Wilcoxen’s heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to others in need of the organs to save their lives.
Despite living through what had to be the worst day of her life, Mrs. Wilcoxen put aside her own pain and saved the lives of at least four strangers in desperate need of the organs her husband no longer could use.
If that is not an example of true compassion and selflessness, we don’t know what is.
“This is what Ryan would have wanted,” Ashley Wilcoxen said. “I just got a phone call today from the Indiana Donor Network (IDN). About every six weeks, they will contact me to share what they can about the recipients of Ryan’s gifts. They told me that his heart went to a male in his ‘50s, his right kidney went to a male in his ‘40s, his left kidney went to a male in his ‘50s and his liver went to a male in his ‘40s.” Wilcoxen said. “In about six weeks, they will contact me to update me again and to share more information about these people. Eventually, and if they are willing, I would love to meet them.”
Schools in the surrounding areas and across the state turned on their baseball field lights for 48 hours, in honor of the popular coach and in solidarity of grief at his passing.
In lieu of flowers, the family strongly urges donations be made to the Ryan Wilcoxen Memorial Fund, c/o Meredith-Clark Funeral Home, PO Box 308, Morgantown, IN 46160. This fund will be used to develop an annual scholarship for high school seniors, ensuring Wilcoxen’s legacy will live on and continue to impact the lives of students.
At Eastern Greene High School, Principal Eric Kirkendall recently announced the formation of the Ryan Wilcoxen Memorial Scholarship, brought into being through the efforts of his widow, who contacted Kirkendall to offer it.
“The Ryan Wilcoxen Memorial Scholarship has been made possible through the efforts of Ryan’s wife, Ashley,” Kirkendall said. “It will be a scholarship that’s open to Eastern Greene and Owen Valley students. We are so very happy and honored that the Wilcoxen family would think of our students, and I know Ryan’s memory is treasured around the Eastern Greene community.”
Ashley Wilcoxen said her husband would have loved the idea of helping others, especially kids, after his passing.
“He loved kids,” she said. “We hope to be able to make this scholarship an annual one at Eastern Greene and we hope to be able to award it at Owen Valley in the future.”
To donate to the Ryan Wilcoxen Memorial Scholarship Fund, use the above address. To learn more about organ donation and the power of Wilcoxen’s gift of life, visit www.indianadonornetwork.org.
If you are not an organ donor, please reconsider. Let the legacy of Ryan Wilcoxen and the gifts he leaves with love spur you to give the gift of life as well.