Koop Moves Forward with a New Calling

Teachers at Downers North got together for the first time since summer break last Monday and Tuesday in preparation for the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Will Kupisch, however, wasn’t among his peers either day.

The longtime guidance counselor and —an institution at Downers North for more than three decades—retired at the conclusion of the 2010-11 school year in June.

Kupisch’s old friends and co-workers at DGN have been on his mind, but “Koop,” as he’s affectionately known, resisted the urge to drive past the school and look at the parking lots last Monday.

“I thought a little bit about my colleagues over there, and the meetings and the hustle and bustle,” he said. “On the first day you see a lot of fresh, smiling faces and a bundle of energy.”

When asked if it felt unusual not to be involved in these meetings after so many years—or not being at school for the start of another year—Koop replied, “No strange feelings, really. More just reflecting on the first day and what it would have been like.

“But I do miss seeing my friends,” he added, “and they were family for 33 years. To not see your buddies, it’s just like you’re missing an old friend. You miss seeing everyone.”

Kupisch knew he would be retiring since the beginning of last year. Therefore, he had time to prepare for the day when he’d pack up his belongings and leave the building for the last time.

“In my mind, I knew it was coming,” he said. “It wasn’t like I just lost it and I had to get out. It made the transition easier for me mentally and emotionally.”

As an educator, Kupisch always has had the summer months off, so that helped him ease into retirement.

“It was the end of the year, so I’m with my other colleagues and we’re off (for the summer),” he said. “It was the same time (off) as it’s always been for 33 years. I had a retirement party, and my daughter (Megan) got married on July 2, so my energies were diverted to other positive experiences. I had those things working for me, so I didn’t have time to ponder it.”

Speaking of weddings, Kupisch has become a focal point in other couples’ weddings over the past few years. As an ordained minister through World Christianship Ministries, he’s officiated several weddings—in back yards as well as inside churches—throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Wedding Officiant

Kupisch estimates he will have officiated nine weddings by the end of this year. He’s got weddings coming up in September and October, and two in December.

He even has his own Web site, kupischofficiant.com, which explains his services as a wedding officiant.

So what prompted Koop—who’s helped countless young lives as a counselor and developed several all-state cross country runners over the years—to officiate weddings?

It all started when Kupisch’s nephew, Mike Carter, asked him to officiate his wedding in 2008.

“He said, ‘Uncle Will, I don’t know anyone who knows the Bible more than you’, ” Kupisch recalls. “It was a very nice statement, but obviously I don’t know enough (about the Bible).”

Before agreeing to officiate Mike’s wedding, Kupisch did some research.

“My (late) brother (Lance) was a lawyer,” Kupisch said, “and I asked him about the legalities of doing this, and he said, ‘Yes, you certainly can.’ ”

Kupisch ended up getting his certification to be a wedding officiant through World Christianship Ministries and married Mike and his wife, Camille, that year in Wisconsin.

In addition to Koop being his uncle, Carter—the manager of Bob Carter’s Auto Body in Downers Grove—ran cross country and track for him in the 1990s. So between family gatherings, his uplifting Friday afternoon speeches to the team and his Biblical knowledge, Carter and his bride-to-be knew Uncle Will was their man to officiate the wedding.

“He’s a great orator,” Carter said. “On Fridays he gave the team motivational speeches, kind of how a general would do before a battle. He would call you out and encourage you.

“I know because he’s such a faithful person that the words he says have gravity to them since you know he means what he says. He’s got charisma that’s very hard to ignore. People respond to it a lot.”

Business will undoubtedly pick up for Koop now that he’s retired. But that’s not his motivation for officiating weddings.

“It’s not about me making money,” he said. “It’s a chance to preach God’s word.”

'I Try to Edify People'

Those who know Koop know that his Christian faith is the No. 1 priority in his life. He tries to lead by example, not by browbeating anyone with Bible verses.

“If I’m at work and I put on that tie (or) if I’m coaching, no matter what uniform, you should be the same guy,” he said. “God says in James that all good things come from above. We are so blessed and it’s like He says in Genesis: ‘I’m going to bless you so that you can be a blessing.’ ”

Thus, whether Koop is officiating a wedding or whether he’s invited to speak—another endeavor he loves—at churches, youth groups, business seminars, elementary schools and high schools, he simply wants to be a blessing to those with whom he comes in contact.

“In public schools, I can’t preach the Word, but I can still be an example of what God would want me to be in that environment,” he said. “I don’t have it all figured out myself. I don’t know better than anybody else, believe me.

“I just try to communicate encouragement. I try to edify people I’m with in whatever circumstances they’re in. I try to bring the best out of them.”

While serving God, addressing groups and officiating weddings are at the top of Kupisch’s priority list these days, he hasn’t completely cut ties with coaching. Koop has been given an open invitation by his successor, , to stop by practices, meets or other functions involving the team.

Does he foresee returning to coaching on a regular basis someday, perhaps with another high school team? That’s a possibility, he says, but he’s waiting to get his marching orders from above.

“In Isaiah, it says, ‘No man has heard or seen what the Lord will do for them to those who wait on Him.’ ” Koop said. “I think I need to wait and see what the Lord’s going to bring.

“My daughter says, ‘Well nobody’s going to knock on the door and say, ‘Hey, you.’ I understand that, but I need to wait on the Lord and I want to do what He wants. If it’s coaching, I’m in. I love cheering on the guys, and you learn a lot of life lessons through running.”