John Kerr was a graduate of Frostburg State Teachers College, and received a Master of Science in Education from the University of Maryland.

John taught at Woodland Way Junior High School, where he coached state championship soccer, basketball and track teams, winning several years in a row in the 1930s. Kerr initiated the first cross country team at Hagerstown High School in 1948 — he cleared land behind the Eckstine Farm east of the high school — and won his first cross country state championship.

Kerr became an avid sports fan at the local, state and professional levels. He attended hundreds of Little League, American Legion, PONY, Colt and high school baseball games. He traveled to Gettysburg, Shepherd and Mount St. Mary’s all in a single day to view sports activities.

John held season tickets to Maryland and Navy football and basketball games, the Baltimore Colts and Washington Redskins. He was a member of the Terrapin Club of Maryland.

John was honored in 1975 by the Baltimore Orioles, throwing the first pitch prior to the game commemorating his more than 3,000 Major League Baseball games attended. In that span, he saw three no-hitters, and Hank Aaron’s 714th and 715th home runs. He also attended the Montreal and Munich Olympic Games.

John was proclaimed as Washington County’s all-time No. 1 sports fan. He attended more than 7,000 football, basketball and baseball games.