The Twin Lakes Area is mourning the loss of a man who has served the Mountain Home Public School district as a student-athlete, a coach, a teacher and an administrator. Ron Czanstkowski died Tuesday morning in Houston following a battle with cancer.
Czanstkowski’s family moved to Mountain Home from Illinois in August of 1978, right before his sixth grade year began. While he played football for the Bombers, he was known more for his time on the baseball diamond. Czanstkowski was a three-time All-Conference selection, two-time All-State team member and a member of the All-Arkansas High School Baseball Team during his senior year.
Czanstkowski went on to attend North Arkansas College in Harrison for two years. He later transferred to Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. During his senior season as a Bearcat, he was named first team All-Conference, the conference’s Co-MVP and first team All-Region.
Czanstkowski went on to begin his coaching career in 1987 with Mountain Home’s American Legion junior team. While coaching the team, currently known as MacLeod, he also assisted with the Lockeroom senior team through 1994. Czanstkowski also became an assistant coach for the high school program in 1991, and the Bombers finished as state runners-up that season.
Don Webb was Mountain Home High School’s head baseball coach when Czanstkowski was an athlete, and he later worked under Webb as an assistant coach. Webb says Czanstkowski was the kind of person who wanted to leave a place better than he found it.
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Czanstkowski was promoted to head coach following Webb’s retirement in 1995, and during his second year at the helm of the high school program, he led Mountain Home to its first state baseball championship. The Bombers also became the top-ranked team among all classifications in Arkansas, and Czanstkowski was named the state’s coach of the year.
Czanstkowski has also been recognized as a leader in the classroom. He was a full-time mathematics teacher while coaching baseball, and he won the district’s Teacher of the Year award in 1997.
Czanstkowski continued to serve in Mountain Home Public Schools as its students services director. Current Mountain Home High School assistant boys’ basketball coach Brad Morris has been a long-time friend of Czanstkowski since his family moved to the area, and they were also roommates in college. Morris says Czanstkowski’s impact on Mountain Home as a coach, a teacher and an administrator was evident.
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KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot’s Heather Loftis was one of Czanstkowski’s students at Mountain Home, and she talks about the impact he had on her and others in the classroom.
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Czanstkowski wore several different hats during his time with the school district, and Webb says he was the kind of person that wanted to make others feel better.
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Czanstkowski had continued to stay involved in youth sports in the Twin Lakes Area. Mountain Home Mayor Hillrey Adams says he first met Czanstkowski when his son played high school baseball, and he was proud to have that friendship ever since.
Last April, a special ceremony was held at Clysta Willett Park as the city of Mountain Home hosted its opening day event following a big renovation project. Mayor Adams says when he talked to various individuals about how to reopen the facility, one name kept coming up.
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Czanstkowski was again recognized in October when he was part of the Class of 2023 enshrined into the MHHS Athletic Hall of Honor. Morris says that is a memory that will always stick with him.
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Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced for Ron Czanstkowski.
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