Coach Dan Gensel

Daniel Lee Gensel—affectionately known to generations as “Coach,” first for his Hall of Fame career as an athletics leader and later for his award-winning radio work—died Sunday, May 14, 2023, at his home in Soldotna.

He was 66.

A celebration of life will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at Soldotna High School, 425 W. Marydale Ave. The public is welcome.

Gensel, the son of John R. (Jack) and Sarah Ann Gensel, was born in Anchorage on Feb. 16, 1957, and grew up on the Kenai Peninsula. He attended Kenai Central High School, from which he graduated in 1975. It was as a Kardinal that he built his initial reputation in sports, lettering in football, basketball, and track and field. He was selected as the 1975 KCHS Male Athlete of the Year and was the Region III champion in the 100-yard dash and the 180-yard hurdles in his final two years of high school. In later years, close friends who spent leisure time with Dan were given to hearing his boasts of his being “eighth-grade pingpong champion,” but those accolades somehow didn’t make the official record.

After high school, Dan ventured south to California, where he attended Long Beach State. There, he met Kathy Stein, whom he married in 1980. After marriage, they settled in Alaska.

Education and Athletics

Dan began his first career, as a dedicated teacher and coach, at Soldotna High School in 1980, soon after it opened. In the classroom, he taught language arts and journalism. On the fields of play, he was well-rounded and successful at every turn:

He coached boys and girls basketball, most notably the latter, building the Stars program into consistently one of the best in the state.

He coached football.

In his 12 years as the girls varsity basketball coach at SoHi, his teams compiled 202 victories, and in 1993 the Stars won the 4A state championship.

He was the 1993 Alaska Basketball Coaches Association Girls Coach of the Year.

As a track and field coach, he led teams to three state championships (1996 and 1997, girls, and 1994, boys), as well as several runner-up finishes.

Dan was also athletic director at SoHi in 1981-83 and activities director from 1995 until his retirement in 1999.

As it turned out, he was just getting started.

The Sports Voice of KSRM

After leaving SoHi, Dan settled into the sports director’s chair at KSRM Radio in Kenai (920 AM and 92.5 FM on your dial), where his easy manner and boundless knowledge made him an entertaining and informative host. His specialty was sports, but his interests ranged far and wide. He would entertain audiences with trivia, interviews, and peerless coverage of sports on the peninsula and statewide.

The day after Dan’s passing, the station hosts who had worked alongside him dedicated the morning show to impromptu memories of his ceaseless energy and unflagging enthusiasm for assisting with grand community initiatives and seemingly picayune tasks like helping neighbors move. It wasn’t lost on anyone that Dan’s final hours on this mortal coil were spent repairing the deck at home. He didn’t like to be idle.

Dan’s credentials as a broadcaster were as sterling as those he compiled as a coach. He presided over nearly 5,000 broadcasts, work that earned him 25 Goldie Awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association.

Impact

Indeed, it could be rightly argued that Dan’s second career, nearly a quarter-century as a broadcaster, brought him as much attention as coaching did.

Not coincidentally, Dan’s years of coaching girls basketball aligned with a true heyday for the sport in Alaska. From the Mat-Su Valley south to Homer, terrific teams and players—many of them bound for Division I schools—competed regularly for dominance in the state. On the Kenai Peninsula, games between Dan’s SoHi Stars and the Kenai Kardinals were standing-room-only events that live long in the memories of those lucky enough to witness them.

Along with Kathy and their daughter, Andrea, Dan was known for his community involvement and being a soft place to land for people in need. As news of his passing spread online, former students and players—and even those who had gone up against his teams—related stories of the kindnesses the Gensels showed them over the years.

He was an active member of Christ Lutheran in Soldotna, doing everything from preaching to washing dishes.

In 2018, the Alaska Schools Activities Association (ASAA) inducted Dan into its Hall of Fame, recognizing his achievements as a coach and a broadcaster and noting that he is “truly among the elite.”

No one who knew him would dispute it.

Survivors

In addition to Kathy, his wife of 42 years, Dan is survived by daughter Andrea Frey of Soldotna; her husband, Lee; and grandsons Brendan Daniel Frey and Cameron Lee Frey.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, David and Jane Stein.

He leaves a brother, John P. Gensel, and wife Karin; a sister, Tina R. Brindley, and husband Jonathan; brother-in-law and sister-in-law George W. Stein and D. Sue Stein; and nieces and nephews including Sam, Cece, Simone and Selene Gensel; Zoe L. Gensel; Sarah, Joe and Mason Works; and Greg, Shelby, Andrew and Blake Stein.

And, of course, numerous other people who over the years became like family, including friends, students, players, co-workers, and others.

The family asks that memorials in Coach’s name be made to the Soldotna High School Endowment Fund (alaskacf.org/funds) or a local youth sports program. Memorials may be mailed to Bridges Community Resource Network Inc., Box 1612, Soldotna, AK 99669 for disbursement. Please make checks out to the program of your choice.