Since his second semester at Colorado State University, former Skyline teacher, coach and athletic director Bill Stephens, now 78, has lived a life dedicated to educating kids. And maybe more so, his son Greg points out, in creating a family-like dynamic with all those he taught and coached across nearly four decades.

On Tuesday afternoon, Skyline High School celebrated the Stephenses, who combined to serve the St. Vrain Valley School District for almost 70 years. Bill, on the field named after him, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Greg ahead of the Falcons’ baseball game against Pueblo South.

“That’s a long way away,” cracked Bill, who donned a black and red Skyline cap as he delivered a strike into Greg’s glove.

“I haven’t truly processed all of this,” Bill admitted afterward.

It’s been two decades since Bill last served at Skyline, retiring as its athletic director in 2006. He’d spent 36 years in the SVVSD, where he also showed students how to work with their hands in what was then called industrial art — architecture, welding, working on engines, and so forth.

For more than two decades, he was ahead of the school’s baseball program, winning nearly 300 games while taking the Falcons to two state title games. Skyline’s lone baseball title came under his leadership in ‘86.

“The players, my coaches, the families we had here at Skyline — they made everything possible,” Bill reflected. “It’s all of them that put us where we wanted to be.”

A longtime educator like his dad, Greg walked onto the field with his dad for Tuesday’s first pitch. Greg is now saying his own farewell.

After being the school’s assistant principal for the past 15 years, Greg is calling it a career in June. The 52-year-old said he started working for the district in the grounds department when he attended Skyline. He played baseball under his dad before graduating in ‘91 and continued at Otero College in La Junta.

Greg said he was a snowboard instructor at Winter Park when he decided to begin his career in helping kids. For years he taught social studies at Skyline, where he also coached the baseball team for two seasons. With his dad as his assistant, the Falcons finished state runner-up in 2002.

“When you care and love kids, they give, and they give back tenfold, right?” Greg said. It was something he learned from his dad. “When kids trust you, they will walk through walls for you. My dad built a family presence wherever he was, and he was that rock we all needed.”

Bill, who was inducted into the Colorado Dugout Club Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January, lost his dad while in high school but had a strong role model in his mother — an elementary school teacher. He was just months into being in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at CSU when he decided to follow suit.

Graduated and married amid the Vietnam War, he spent his first two years after college at the base in Fort Knox, where he doubled as a tank instructor and youth baseball coach. “By the grace of God,” he said, he was never called into action.

Following his military service, he worked at Longmont and Niwot high schools and served as an assistant under legendary Trojans baseball coach Joe Brooks. The bulk of his career, however, came at Skyline, where his lasting mission was to do right by kids.

“It never was about me. They did it all. They put Skyline on the map,” Bill said, pointing out one of his former players, Seth Haley, who played for him in the late 90s.

Haley, who now has a son on the team — senior John Haley — smiled and redirected. “Our leader gives us that mentality,” he said as he pulled in his former coach for a handshake.

The current Falcons baseball team followed the celebration with an august performance in March. Though, it came in a 10-8 loss.

With seven of their top 11 players having no varsity experience prior to the spring, the Falcons showed growth and plenty of heart against Pueblo South — which, coincidentally, is the same program Bill and the program beat in the ‘86 finals.

Battling back from eight runs down, their comeback bid ended on a strikeout out with the bases loaded. Nevertheless, it was a big improvement from their 10-0, six-inning loss to the Colts 10 days ago.

Here, on Bill Stephens Field, wins and losses are measured in care.

“Our hats say ‘grit’ on the back,” said Travis Schlagel, who, now in his 10th year ahead of the program, spearheaded the ceremony for his predecessors. “We know we don’t have the most talent or the biggest squad, but we’re going to stay in it until the end.”