Cardinal spirit

Former Cardinals player Tom Henke helps remember late teacher for her love of baseball and impact on students

On Monday, Carole Hirsch would have sported her Cardinals gear with pride in support of their first home game of the season. She would have donned her red Cardinals T-shirt, necklace and bracelet, and maybe she would have sounded off some statistics about the new players.

But Hirsch, 53, is cheering the team on in spirit. She died Dec. 1, just a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

The celebration of her life at St. Stanislaus school, where she taught music for nearly 29 years, embodied several things that were important to her: God and, of course, Cardinals baseball.

Former Cardinals player Tom Henke visited the school in honor of her recent passing and spoke to the students about faith.

Henke said his faith has been tested many times, but especially when his daughter Amanda was born with Down Syndrome. He said he felt like God was punishing him, but he soon learned that he'd been given a "blessing," and it taught him that some things in life aren't as bleak as they seem.

"God gave me someone in my life to show me that giving up a home run in the ninth inning isn't that bad," Henke said. "Because I watched Amanda, my daughter, try to walk, try to talk, try to do things we take for granted. ... Our faith sometimes comes and goes. Mine does. Sometimes I feel really close to God and close to Jesus, but sometimes I feel like, where did he go? But then when I look back on those times in my life, it wasn't God that moved. It was me."

Henke grew up in Taos, attended St. Francis Xavier School and Blair Oaks High School. He played professional baseball for 16 years and spent his last year on the Cardinals team, which he said was one of his best years.

Sometimes God takes people sooner than we'd expect, but he knew Hirsch was up in Heaven, he said.

"God gives us life and sometimes we have to leave this earth," Henke said. "I know Miss Hirsch is up there with God, looking down and smiling. She's never really gone. I've lost a brother and two sisters and they're never really gone, you keep them in your heart. It's truly an honor to be here and be able to share my faith."

Those who knew Hirsch said Henke's visit would have been special to her.

Her room was top to bottom with Cardinals memorabilia. She kept a U.S map in the hallway and put pins of Cardinal wins and losses and where they played at different fields.

Connie Anderson, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, said Hirsch was her first friend and described her as her best friend at St. Stanislaus.

"She was an awesome lady," Anderson said. "Always put faith first and herself last. Everything else was in between. Faith, family, friends and herself last. And Cardinal baseball fit somewhere in there."

Hirsch was an enthusiastic music teacher. At the school's annual advent music performance, Andrews said many would come to the show just to see Hirsch direct. She would leap off her feet to get the students energized and smiling during the show.

Anderson said watching Hirsch direct are among her favorite memories of her beloved friend.

Hirsch's mother, Helen Hirsch, was also in attendance of the assembly on Monday and said the support the school and local parishes has been "unbelievable."

"She was special to us," she said. "We found out through all this how special she was to everyone else," she said.

Helen said Hirsch has always been a lover of music. She started taking guitar lessons in sixth or seventh grade and that was her main instrument when studying music education at Lincoln University.

Hirsch was also the music minister at Immaculate Conception Church - the church she's attended all her life - and Helen said she'll miss seeing her daughter up there directing the choir.

St. Stanislaus planted a honey locust tree, which are known for their strength, where she used to walk back and forth and pray the rosary during recess duty. The students also had ball park dogs for lunch and were given Miss Hirsch baseball cards with her "stats" printed on the back.

On July 7, some of the students will visit the baseball stadium to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," which was a dream of hers.

Andrews said the students still talk about her, saying her passing was a "great loss" for them.

"I miss her every day," Andrews said. "She was my best friend here. I miss her laughter. ... She was a lot of fun. She really was. That's something I don't think people say very often, but she was a lot of fun and the kids had fun with her."