The sudden passing of Garth Batchelor on Feb. 6 has left many South Whidbey community members shocked and deeply saddened. However, those who knew and loved him will keep his memory alive forever.

Many knew Garth as the coach who has trained young generations of baseball and football players on South Whidbey. Following his death, many came forward to his family to leave flowers, tell stories about Garth and share words of admiration and comfort.

A GoFundMe account set up to help the family has raised nearly $70,000 so far while a funeral is set for Feb. 24.

Garth suffered a heart attack while driving on Ewing Road on South Whidbey. His truck went off an about 6 foot drop into a field, but somehow, he was able to keep the truck and the trailer undamaged, according to Olivia Batchelor.

Olivia, his wife of 22 years, said he was a hardworking man until the very end.

“He worked hard to be so good at his job and even having a massive heart attack he made sure to keep the equipment safe,” she said.

Olivia remembed Garth as a reserved man with a big heart. Upon meeting him for the first time, she said, some might have found his stature and quiet nature to be intimidating.

“Garth may have had kind of a rough exterior, but that’s not what was down deep,” she said. “In there was a teddy bear.”

When it came to expressing emotions, he was a man of few words, Olivia said. However, he showed his love through his actions and deeply cared about others, a trait Olivia always loved about him.

Dom Anania was one of Garth’s good friends, and remembered him as the kind of person who would drop anything in order to help someone in need, and a father who was very involved with his children’s sports.

“God broke the mold with Garth,” he said. “Top notch.”

Before coaching children for the Little League, Garth wasn’t sure it was the right fit for him. It took some persuasion, but eventually, he surrendered and discovered he loved it, Olivia said.

“He did that for his kids, and ended up getting to love other people’s kids too,” she said. Together, Olivia and Garth have three children, Brent, Morgan and Levi.

Garth was a talented storyteller, and he particularly enjoyed telling stories of his adventures with friends back in the day, which Olivia said he could remember with impressive detail — a skill she always admired.

Garth had many passions beyond sports. He loved his Friday nights with friends, trucks, logging and watching professional logging shows and hunting with his family.

One day, Garth proudly returned home with his sons, Brent and Levi, after a successful hunt where each one of them had caught a goose. Two weeks later, at 52, he died in that very area, which Olivia said is an incredible coincidence.

“The place on Ewing where he died was one of the most special places on the island to him,” she said.

One of Olivia’s fondest memories is their honeymoon, which they spent in Montana to see the World of Outlaws car race, which to Garth was a dream come true.

His love for trucks was so great that, for his funeral, Garth’s friends are putting together one last big show for him, and will parade their dump trucks.

Garth was born in Tacoma but moved to Langley when he was a little boy. His mother, Olivia said, would take him to kindergarten on horseback. Garth deeply loved his mother, Carol, and the people on the island who helped raise him.

“He has a lot of moms and dads on this island,” Olivia said. “He carried that throughout his life, how much those people meant to him.”

He loved Whidbey, but was frustrated with the rising cost of living. To him, Olivia said, hard working people deserved to live comfortably. Being a hard worker his whole life, he didn’t have much free time, and was the family’s main source of income.

Though he never knew, Garth left an indelible mark on the South Whidbey community. As a sign of their love and respect for the person he was, many have donated to a fundraiser to help the Batchelors with funeral costs and finances during this difficult time.

As of Feb. 15, the GoFundme has raised over $68,000, and Olivia expressed her gratitude for all the solidarity.

Community members can make a donation at gofundme.com/f/garth-batchelor. His funeral will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland, and is open to community members.

“He would be so incredibly blown away and honored and in disbelief at this community,” Olivia said. “At the love they have shown to us for him.”