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Died December 20, 2020.
Swift Creek Middle School, Clayton, NC
Mathematics, Science, Football and Baseball Coach
A longtime Johnston County teacher and coach died Sunday from COVID-19 complications, say friends and colleagues now mourning his death.
John Krol, 40, taught seventh grade science at Swift Creek Middle School in Clayton. He died after experiencing a blood clot in his lung, principal Kerri Evans said in an email.
Lisa Krol told CBS17 her husband had a temperature and felt tired last week but continued to teach online.
“It’s his calling. Like teaching, coaching,” shr told the station. “He loved what he did and he loved his school and he loved his students.”
Krol’s death comes as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise across North Carolina and the country.
At Swift Creek, 11 students and four staff members are under active quarantines, according to the Johnston County Public Schools dashboard.
Johnston County’s schools had in-person classes until the beginning of December, but reverted to online learning at least until Jan. 15, after the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services determined the county had critical community spread based on its case rate, percentage of positive cases and the impact on hospitals.
“He (Krol) has been an integral part of who we are today because of his commitment and dedication to students through teaching, coaching and mentoring at Swift Creek and the greater community,” Evans said in a statement. “The passing of Mr. Krol is a loss for our Swift Creek Wolf PACK and he will be greatly missed by our staff, students, and community.”
Krol, a father to five children, began teaching at Clayton Middle School after he moved to Johnston County from Ohio in 2003. He taught at McGee’s Crossroads Middle School for many years before joining Swift Creek when it opened in 2017. He was its head coach for football and baseball.
“I’m talking to several of his colleagues and friends and we are still struggling with this,” Krol’s friend John Wood wrote in a text message.
John was one of the most positive, loving, compassionate people I’ve ever known, and he loved ALL of his students,” wrote Wood, who taught with Krol at McGee’s Crossroads. “This is just a horrible, senseless tragedy,”
FAMILY IN QUARANTINE
Lisa Krol had written in a Facebook post that the family was quarantining Dec. 19.
“We kind of thought everybody was probably OK from her being casual about the post,” said April Jones Lee, a friend and former coworker. But Krol began having trouble breathing, his health declined quickly and he died Sunday, Lee said.
Lee and Krol taught sixth- and seventh-grade geography and math at McGee’s Crossroads. Their children were friends, too.
“He was an encourager and concentrated on their (the students’) potential and not letting each other down and not letting them fail,” Lee said. “Whatever he did in the classroom was also reflected in his life and the kind of person he was.”
Lee said it is going to be very difficult for students and the community.
“You can’t lose a member of a school family, the community without acknowledging it and dealing with the emotions of the kids who are in his classes,” she said. “And I know Johnston County Public Schools will do a phenomenal job of having support in the building when kids come back. It’s going to be a hard day.”
Lee is also the president of the Johnston County Association of Educators. Krol’s death has been hard on teachers as well.
“We’re just incredibly sad, and at the same time, we’re incredibly angry,” because nobody mentions the adults in conversations about reopening schools, she said. “We have families with children and fathers and mothers.”
“I want us to be open. I just want us to be able to open safely. I don’t want to think that we can lose somebody else,” Lee said.
DECIDING WHETHER TO REOPEN SCHOOLS
Lee hopes the decision about whether or not to reopen Johnston County schools after Jan. 15 is based on data.
Johnston County has had more than 10,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the county’s website. There had been 97 deaths and 62 people currently hospitalized as of Monday. Roughly 1,500 children in the county have tested positive.
Tristen Alexander, 21, one of Kroll’s former seventh-graders, said he remembers Krol fondly as a coach.
Alexander played soccer and ran track at McGee’s Crossroads. He described Krol cheering the team on from the sidelines during matches.
“No matter what the score, he would say, ‘Just go out there, have the best time you can,’” Alexander said. “He is probably the best coach I’ve had.”
Alexander said Krol taught him lessons he will never forget. One day, the soccer players messed up some equipment in the gym. It was not immediately clear who did it. Instead of identifying a single person to punish, Krol taught the boys to be a team by making all of them do sprints as a punishment.
Amy Peterson, president of Swift Creek’s Parent Teacher Student Association, said Krol taught her son science in the seventh grade.
“I’m going to miss seeing him,” she said. “He was one of those funny (teachers), always keeping things entertained.”
Krol gave his students tough love, but always let them know he cared, Peterson said.
“My soon-to-be fifth-grader will be going there (Swift Creek),” she added. “I wish he could have been there.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to cover Krol’s funeral arrangements and future expenses for his family at tinyurl.com/yccunn2z.
Krol’s family has asked for cards or notes written to Krol’s children about how he has impacted people in the community, Evans wrote in an email to Swift Creek parents. Cards can be mailed to Swift Creek Middle School, 325 Norris Road, Clayton, NC 27520 (attention Krol Memorial) or dropped off after Jan. 4.