Meet Taylor North: 2021 Little League World Series champions
A look back at the run by the Taylor North Little League team, the 2021 Little League World Series champions.
Tyler J. Davis, Detroit Free Press
Longtime Taylor Little League baseball coach and volunteer Bill Kessler had a stroke and is expected to go into hospice.Kessler was a coach and volunteer for Taylor North Little League for many years, and was president of the league at one time.
Hundreds of kids have played Little League baseball in Taylor over the last 25 years, and one man was a constant.
Bill Kessler — coach, volunteer and one-time president of Taylor North Little League — was that man.
Some knew Kessler as a baseball or football coach. Others may have been handed Tootsie Rolls from a man in a baseball cap covered in pins or encountered him soliciting funds for the Knights of Columbus.
Kessler died shortly before noon on Sunday, Dec. 28, while in hospice care after a series of strokes, his family said. He suffered the first stroke on Dec. 18 and another while in the hospital. He was 68.
Now his family is asking for help, according to a GoFundMe created by his sister-in-law, Tabitha Brennan-Hubbard.
Who is Bill Kessler?
Kessler was a husband, dad, grandfather, brother, nephew, volunteer, Catholic churchgoer, Knight of Columbus and more, according to his family members.
“He was an overall great person that had a really big heart for anyone and everyone,” said Brennan-Hubbard.
His daughter, Nicole Kessler-Hect, said she will miss her dad and his frequent visits to her house. Kessler had one grandson, who he coached in baseball and took to church every Sunday.
Debbie Kowalczyk, Kessler’s aunt who lives in Tennessee, recalled in a Dec. 27 interview, prior to his death, how Kessler would call her on the phone to tell her about the latest things in country music, and then stay on the phone another hour or so.
Kowalczyk said her talkative nephew really loved his family, and that every Thursday he would meet Kessler-Hect at the gas station to fill up her gas tank.
“It doesn’t matter if he had the money or not, he would do what he could to make sure you had what you needed,” Kessler-Hect said of her dad.
‘Dedication knew no bounds’
Kessler went to high school in Southgate and lived in Taylor, Brennan-Hubbard said.
He became involved in Taylor’s Little League about 25 years ago and has coached his son, grandson and a number of nieces and nephews over the years, Kowalczyk said.
He was a huge Detroit Tigers fan, his daughter said. He loved the Lions, too.
He retired from his position as a salesman at a printing company about 10 years ago. He continued to coach and volunteer after his retirement.
“Nobody could ever forget him and the impact he has left,” according to a Dec. 24 Facebook post on Taylor North’s page.
In 2021, Taylor North won the Little League World Series. Though Kessler didn’t have any family members on the team, he traveled to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to watch the games.
Junior League World Series Taylor, Michigan posted about Kessler on Facebook on Dec. 24.
“Those who have attended the World Series will remember Bill as the happy gentleman with tons of pins on his baseball cap,” the post said. “His dedication knew no bounds.”
Why the Kessler family is seeking support
According to the GoFundMe for Kessler’s family, they are looking for support to pay for his funeral services and related medical expenses.
Kessler’s wife, Judy, is also ill, and for the last three years, Kessler and his son, Michael, had been her primary caregivers. Judy is unable to leave her bed, Kowalczyk said.
“The love Bill had for her willed her to live” after she got sick, Kowalczyk said.
Money raised via the GoFundMe will also go toward helping Michael Kessler care for his mother.
Contact Natalie Davies at ndavies@freepress.com.