She was cheering for her teammates, in between push-up repetitions. When the coach finally called her onto the court, Kacie was ready to play. That is how I remember her.
Tom Hausfeld, 50, and his daughter Kacie, 21, died Thursday, April 1, when the single-engine plane he piloted crashed after takeoff at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport. A ripple of sorrow has swept across the community as people touched by the generous spirit of this family come to grips with their loss.
I meet the Hausfelds through club volleyball, when my daughter, Megan Smith, played on a team with Kacie. Tom and his wife, Lori, were veteran club parents. They literally taught me the rules of the game. The Hausfelds opened their Springboro home for team gatherings and overnight parties for the girls. If a team member needed a ride to a tournament, they stepped up.
Over three years, our daughters traveled around the country to Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City competing against some of the best teams in the nation. I never saw Tom when he wasn’t wearing a shirt or jacket that sported a logo from one of his daughter’s teams.
Kacie, a junior at the University of Dayton and starting setter for the volleyball team, wanted to be a teacher. She was quick to laugh at her own mistakes, then learn from them. If a teammate faltered, Kacie shouted encouragement. She was the player who walked off the court smiling, even after a loss.
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