Mike Burkhalter, better known as “Coach Mike,” 65, of Wellington, Texas, passed away Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the First Methodist Church with Rev. Gene Weinette, pastor, officiating. Arrangements and cremation are by Adams Funeral Home of Wellington.
He was born May 15, 1957, in Amarillo, Texas to Jesse “Deter” and Rebecca Lee Burkhalter. Ask Coach Mike what his favorite possession is, and he would mostly likely say his football ring from 2013, when the Skyrockets won the Class 1A Division II State Championship.
Coach Mike was no doubt the players favorite coach, noted Coach Greg Proffitt, Wellington Independent School District Athletic Director and Head Football Coach since 2019.
“He was a joy to have around and was a great help in practice, after practice and during games,” Proffitt said. “He helped with laundry every day that he attended practice and after every game, which took a big load off our coaching staff. He was greatly appreciated.”
Always a football fan, Mike began hanging out at Powell Field, watching the Rockets from the time he moved to Wellington in 1986. The late legendary Coach James Williams, who came to Wellington in 1973, took note of Mike’s interest and asked him to join the team as a manager in 1992.
“Coach Mike” began his Skyrocket duties, helping in any way he could. He started out with junior high and junior varsity basketball, and he helped with baseball, too, four to five years. Then, he began his service assisting with Rocket football as well.
When James Williams’ son, Wade, arrived back in town in 2008 to serve as Athletic Director and Head Football Coach for his alma mater, he said he sort of knew Coach Mike.
“In the spring of 2008, I was trying to get the football guys going and we went to the WAC (Wellington Activity Center) because of wet weather,” Williams said. “I show up and Coach Mike already had the kids working on their drills.”
There’s nobody that got more fired up about a Skyrocket athletic event than Coach Mike, according to Williams.
“When we had a road game, he always arrived at least an hour before we left to help load footballs and water jugs or whatever on the bus,” said Williams. “He’d been around longer than anybody at the football field, and he’d listen to everything at each event, even to every pregame meeting between opposing coaches and officials.”
Williams recalled Friday nights, with Coach Mike serving as the guy who took care of all the rookie managers, assigning jobs, like who’s going to grab the tee and who’s in charge of towels and water jugs. Williams noted that his dad really appreciated Mike, too.
Growing up in Amarillo and Midwest City, Okla., Mike graduated from high school in 1976. He longed for the wide-open spaces of Collingsworth County, Texas, where he hoed cotton some summers with family. He moved to Wellington in the mid-1980s with his dad, the late Willie Fay Henard Patrick, who had a sister there.
Mike settled in Wellington and helped his cousins, Jim Henard, on the ranch, and the late Billy Henard and wife Debbie, at the sale barn. He often reminisced with their sister, Gail Henard Coleman, which he still did from time to time.
For his day job, Mike served as a janitorial attendant at Pioneer Park, where he kept the picnic and camping grounds groomed. He had worked as a park attendant for 30 years. He served as a member of the First Methodist Church and as a dedicated Sunday school student.
He is survived by his sister, Mary Ann Coats, of Wellington; two nieces, Ashley Coats and Carrie Gamble; several great nieces and nephews; and his many cousins, in addition to the families of those listed above, the Van Pelt boys and their families, Jim Van Pelt, of Amarillo, and John Van Pelt, of Wayside.
The family suggests that memorials be made to Collingsworth Home Delivered Meals, P.O. Box 228, Wellington, TX 79095.
Sign the online guest book at www.adamsfuneralsvc.com.
Obituary adapted from a previous article in “The Red River Sun.”
