Longtime Hopkins High School teacher, coach and athletic director Ron Sellnow passed away Wednesday afternoon, the school’s Department of Athletics and Activities announced.

Sellnow began working for Hopkins as a math teacher in 1964 and continued to teach for more than 24 years. He coached hockey for 27 years. Sellnow also coached boys' and girls' soccer—leading the Royals to five consecutive state tournament appearances.

He became the district’s athletics director in 1988, a position he held until retiring in 1999.

Sellnow stayed active in high school sports after retiring—serving as director of the section hockey and soccer tournaments.

He was inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame in 2009.

Current Activities Director Dan Johnson started working with Sellnow when he hired Johnson as a baseball coach three years before Sellnow retired. As Johnson prepared to leave for one of the tournaments Sellnow once ran, he described the time his predecessor invested into Hopkins programs.

But even with the effort Sellnow put into his job, he always made a point to set aside time for family and friends, Johnson said.

He’ll remember Sellnow as “just a very, very solid person—always supportive, always caring about the kids in the programs.”

Patch will have more details about memorials and services once an obituary is available.

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