MOLINE, Ill. — Quad City sports coach Derek Lindauer continues to be remembered across the community after unexpectedly passing away.
Moline and United Township high schools held a special recognition for Lindauer before its basketball game Friday, Jan. 7.
"He was a true friend," Moline head baseball coach Craig Schimmel said. "Loyal and genuine."
Both schools entered the game with more than basketball on their minds.
"Always brought a smile to your face with his amazing one-liner jokes," Moline staff member Shannon Harding said.
He was a former Moline High School baseball coach and had just become an assistant basketball coach at United Township High School.
"Just fun to watch," Moline staff member Dexter Johnson said.
"He was very witty," former student Dylan Warren said.
The coach's legacy included numerous successful victories and championships.
"We've been working with him for the last nine years and he's meant so much to us not only as a coworker, but as a friend and a valued person in our life," co-worker Becky Anderson said.
The News 8 sports department complied a list of accomplishments during Lindauer's time as a coach. It includes 463 victories; he won at least 20 games in 18 of 19 seasons with the Moline Maroons; claiming 12 Western Big 6 titles; 11 regional championships; 5 sectional titles, and 2 state trophies before stepping down in 2011.
"I had him as a teacher all throughout middle school," Brock Harding said. "He touched so many people and he was a good person."
Lindauer, also known as "DL," had a passion to win.
"He coached for the right reasons," former coach Frank Dexter said.
Lindauer spent nearly two decades coaching on the field and the court.
"All of this earning him a well-deserved induction into the baseball coaches hall of fame," said during the game.
"His heart was in the right place always," Dexter said.
The loss leaves a big hole in the heart of students and fellow coaches, but they plan to carry on his spirit to win around the diamond and down the court.
"He was amazing," student Maddie Determan. "He always made someone laugh."
"He was just really able to reach so many kids," co-worker Kate Zacharewicz said.
Lindauer was 58 years old. He passed away after heart complications.