The Salem and Canton swim teams are pictured doing the Salem swim cheer in honor of Mike Kilgore.

Remarkable Legacy

Michael Kilgore continues to inspire people 12 years after his passing

BY ED WRIGHT
Jan. 11, 2010, 11 p.m.

  In the days preceding his way-too-premature death almost 12 years ago, Michael Kilgore most assuredly had no idea how he would be the source of so much inspiration for so many people so many years later.

  When you're a care-free 16-year-old high school junior, you're thinking about things like your next swim meet, your next chemistry test and what you're going to do with your buddies during the upcoming weekend -- not about what kind of legacy you're going to leave behind.

  If he only knew.

  Kilgore died suddenly on March 4, 1998, from an elongated heart valve the day after his final competition for the Salem swim team.

  The junior had sculpted a near-perfect 3.9 grade-point average, developed countless number of friends and gained the admiration of his peers by giving 100 percent effort at every endeavor he attempted.

  "Michael's spirit will live on forever," said Kilgore's mother, Barb, moments after the final event of Saturday's Rock Kilgore Invitational, an event that honors her late son. "He touched so many lives when he was here and he's still touching a lot of lives.

  "When Mike passed away, the school and the students rallied around each other, and this pool was the focal point of it all. Chuck (Olson) makes sure each athlete who swims for Salem knows about Michael and what he stood for."

  Michael Kilgore is the namesake of two scholarships that are awarded to Salem swimmers at the Salem Honors ceremony each May. The "Success is Never Giving Up" swim scholarship goes to Salem male and female swimmers who best exemplify Kilgore's never-give-up attitude and zest for life.

  "The members of the boys and girls swim teams make generous donations toward the scholarship," Barb Kilgore said. "Without their help, it wouldn't be possible."

  Every year a Salem swimmer is presented with the "Michael Kilgore Award," an honor that goes not necessarily to the most talented athletes, but to the ones who display the leadership and effort Kilgore displayed day in and day out.

  And not long after Kilgore passed away, his parents spear-headed a successful effort to equip Salem High School with a defibrillator, a device that helps restart the heart in the event of heart failure.

  "Because of what happened to Mike, we did a lot of different things," said Barb Kilgore. "One of the things we did was provide a defibrillator to the high school through proactive donations from Michael's doctor and the Canton Fire Department."

  The fact that the annual swim meet carries their son's name offers significant meaning to Tim and Barb Kilgore.

  "It is hard to put into words what it means to us," Barb Kilgore said. "But thank you, Mike, for even though you only lived 16-and-a-half years, you taught us much, and always with a smile.

  "And thank you, Chuck Olson, Jim Mellis and the entire Salem swim family for allowing our family to continue to be a part of the Salem swim family."