His nickname was “King,” and from the time he took the athletic director job at Xavier in 1963 as the school’s first hire that’s exactly what he was to so many in our community.
For over 59 years, Arthur M. Kohs cast a larger-than-life presence over Xavier.
He was an administrator, a teacher, a coach, an official, a storyteller, a jokester, a fan, a legend. And Xavier was his kingdom.
On Sunday, March 20, Kohs died unexpectedly, a month shy of his 85th birthday, leaving behind an unmatched legacy.
“A Xavier man through and through,” Xavier Headmaster Dave Eustis said. “He helped create the brand from day one. He is a great part of our history and our legacy is tied to Artie and the entire Kohs family.”
In 1963, Kohs interviewed for the Xavier job at St. Pius Church on Westfield Street in Middletown because the Xavier building was under construction. But from that moment on, Kohs had his hands on everything that Xavier would become and everything it remains.
“Artie Kohs will forever be a pillar of the Xavier High School community,” current Xavier Athletic Director Dan DeConti ’01 said. “His caring personality and laughter will echo in the gym for years to come.”
When the school opened, Kohs was not just the first athletic director – he did everything and was given free rein to build the athletic department. He picked out the school colors and the nickname. He was the first basketball coach, the first soccer coach and the first baseball coach.
Xavier was his family and his family was Xavier.
“Artie was all about faith and family,” former Athletic Director Tony Jaskot ’69 said. “Artie loved what Xavier is all about, especially when it comes to nurturing and challenging his coaches, students and athletes to reach their full potential in everything they do, and most importantly as human beings. … The Xavier community, the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors, and so many others have suffered a great loss.”
During the ‘80s, Kohs and his wife Carolyn sent all four of their children to school on Randolph Road. Todd ’81, Mike ’84 and Tim ’85 went to Xavier, and their daughter, Paula Kohs Drake ’88 went to Mercy. The family believed in the Xavier and the Mercy way. And when it came time to make their own paths, Mike and Tim, chose a route similar to their father as educators and coaches. Mike is the basketball coach at Xavier and walks past the plaque outside the gym, honoring his father, every day. Tim is the former assistant athletic director at Xavier and the current athletic director at Mercy High School, where has coached the girls basketball program since 1993. Todd also played basketball at Xavier and Paula played at Mercy.
In 2020, Kohs got to watch his grandson, Stephen lead Xavier to one of its best regular seasons in over 15 years, and this past fall, his granddaughters Avery and Lauren, both juniors, helped lead Mercy to the school’s first state title in soccer.
“Artie was so very proud of his kids and grandchildren,” Jaskot said. “He loved watching them play and coach and he was not shy about shouting out game strategies or what they were doing wrong!”
Mike now has 300 wins at Xavier and Tim has three state championships. Paula scored more than 2,000 points at Stonehill and was inducted into the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, the same year as her father.
From the minute he started to just this past basketball season, Kohs’ passion and love of Xavier was always on display.
More than 25 years after he stepped aside and handed the reins to Jaskot as athlete director, Kohs still attended home games in the gym with his name on the floor, sitting in his customary chair and yelling out instructions to a new generation of Xavier men.
The King on his throne and happy.
“Along with Larry McHugh, these two gentlemen molded thousands of young men to take the Xavier mission into the world and provide service to others,” Eustis said.
Kohs believed in the power of sports. Before coming to Xavier, he coached Hale-Ray to back-to-back state titles in 1961 and 1962. And when he got to Xavier, it became his mission to pass that along to athletes, coaches and whoever listened.
“Artie was a father figure to so many of us, especially those of us who coached at Xavier and all the athletic directors throughout the state,” Jaskot said.
As Xavier’s basketball coach from 1963-1979, he led the Falcons to more than 200 wins and two state semifinal appearances in 1969 and 1975. But it didn’t stop with the teams he coached. Kohs was a longtime soccer official who worked many state high school championship games as well as college games. He was president of the Connecticut Soccer Officials association and a past president of the Connecticut High School Athletic Directors Association.
He hired Larry McHugh in 1963 as the school’s first football coach. He hired baseball and basketball coach Rich Magner ‘69 and so many others.
“Between him and Larry McHugh, he was somewhat the face of Xavier athletics,” Magner said. “The rest of us followed them.”
Kohs’ athletic program that he built now has 98 state and New England championships.
“He was the tie in from the past to the present,” Magner said.
When Kohs retired in 1997 after 34 years of service to Xavier and high school sports, the gym was named after him. In the article from the Hartford Courant the next day, it said Kohs was overwhelmed when the honor was announced. And that’s not surprising. He loved Xavier. A few years ago in a story in the Xavier Magazine that love was on display when asked about his career on Randolph Road.
“I had a great career here,” Kohs said at the time. “Other than my wife and family, Xavier was the most important thing in my life and always will be. … Love the school. Love what it is.”
Five years ago, the love of his life, Carolyn, passed away unexpectedly while in the midst of a courageous battle with cancer.
“She was a very special person,” Artie said in 2018. “Family meant everything to her. She always wanted to support me, the kids, grandkids. I’ll never forget the wake. It was supposed to be from 4-7. People were still coming in at eight. People waited an hour, hour and a half in line. Everyone liked her.”
If there was a game at Mercy or Xavier, where her sons were coaching, Carolyn was there.
“She was everywhere,” Mike said in a past interview.
Her husband carries that type of presence for generations of Xavier students and everyone in the Xavier community.
“He was a good role model, he was a good parent, he came to work every day with a smile on his face and I’ll miss the heck out of him,” Magner said.
For all the alumni that walked those halls from 1963 to 1997, Kohs was more than a teacher, coach or administrator. He was a part of their lives. He made an impact.
“Most people don’t forget him,” Magner said. “He was always around. In terms of people in town, if you didn’t know who Artie Kohs was, you probably lived under a rock.”
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Artie’s name to the Arthur M. Kohs Scholarship Fund at Xavier High School or to Mercy High School Athletics.
Visiting hours will be on Wednesday (March 23) from 4 to 7 p.m. at Biega Funeral Home, 3 Silver St., Middletown. The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Pius X Church, 310 Westfield St., Middletown, on Thursday (March 24) at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Bridget of Kildare Cemetery in Moodus.
To share memories or express condolences online please visit www.biegafuneralhome.com.