The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hundreds join at JCU to remember Wenzler
Car procession honors Blue Streaks sports information director, who died June 23 of cancer
A car procession at John Carroll University honoring Chris Wenzler started at 3 p.m. on a beautiful sunny day on June 28.
By 2 p.m., cars — which totaled well into the hundreds by 3:30 p.m. — began lining at JCU’s Belvoir parking lot.
All in the procession were there there to meet Wenzler’s wife Melissa, son Oliver, daughter Madeline and other family and friends.
They drove past, waving, blowing kisses, cheering and whatever other way they saw fit to honor the memory of Chris, who passed away June 23 after a two-plus year battle with cancer.
Wenzler is a 1990 graduate of JCU who spent 30 years at the university as the school’s sports information director and assistant athletic director, and became a beloved mentor and friend for countless students who worked in his department.
Smiles — not sadness —was the order of the day.
During the procession, a stereo blasted some of Wenzler’s favorite songs such as Jimmy Cliff’s “I Can See Clearly Now” and Simple Mind’s, “Don’t You Forget About Me.”
Former John Carroll men’s basketball coach Mike Moran and his wife JoAnn were among the line of cars. Moran retired as coach three years ago, and his son Pete is now head coach of the program.
Mike’s time at JCU just about coincided with Wenzler’s as sports information director for the university.
“He was on the committee that hired me,” said Moran, who left Villa Angela St. Joseph in 1992 for JCU and had great success with more than 450 career victories. “I’d say that’s a lot of help. I couldn’t have handpicked a better guy to be on that committee. He was phenomenal. He was just great at his job. As a coach, you appreciate that.”
Carmen Ferrante is a 20-year-old JCU student from Highland Heights who made the short drive with her family to be a part of the afternoon procession. She sat atop her family’s car with a sign that read, “Onward on Chris Wenzler.”
JCU student Kyle Kelly made the trek from Toledo. He has served as one of the radio voices of JCU sports, including football games in the fall, and said Wenzler was huge in the JCU community.
“There’s not enough you can say,” said Kelly. “Obviously, what he meant to the community, what he meant to us — our entire sports information office — is truly amazing. Not only is the John Carroll community missing a tremendous mentor, a teacher, a great sports information director, but also a great man.
“Looking at all the cars here, the posts on Facebook. It’s incredible to see how many lives he touched.”
Stationed directly behind Kelly was former JCU quarterback Anthony Moeglin, who guided the Blue Streaks to a historic win over No. 1-ranked Mount Union in 2016 and an outright Ohio Athletic Conference title.
Moeglin grew up an aspiring sports announcer and on his recruiting trip a meeting with Wenzler all but secured his commitment.
That’s significant, especially since Moeglin prepped at St. Thomas Aquinas, which is a short distance from Mount Union, which was hot after Moeglin in 2015. During his recruiting visit to JCU, football coaches made sure set up that meeting between Moeglin and Wenzler.
“Honestly, that was one of the reasons why I came here,” said Moeglin. “Meeting Chris and seeing an avenue he provided for us to potentially do something like that was pretty cool.”
For Moeglin, that was just the beginning when it came to Wenzler during his four years at JCU.
“Unbelievable human,” he said. “One thing that stood out to me was how much he cared about everything he did. Basketball game or volleyball or soccer or swimming or family time or just time with us outside of the office, he was always so caring, so loving to everyone he mentored, everyone he was the boss of, everyone that was a part of his life.”
JCU track and field coach Kyle Basista said Wenzler’s impact goes far beyond sports.
“I know Chris’ title was sports information director, but I looked at Chris the person,” said Basista, who grew up in North Ridgeville and graduated from Elyria Catholic. “... Today is just a small indication of the amount of people he impacted. He’s gonna be sorely missed at John Carroll. I know his name will live on forever here.”
A private funeral mass is set for June 29. The service will be live-streamed. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Chris Wenzler Memorial Fund to support John Carroll students traveling on immersion trips.