Kurt Hester Passes After Cancer Fight
10/25/2025 8:00:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON – University of Houston's Director of Strength and Performance Kurt Hester passed away after a battle with Stage IV melanoma on Saturday, his family announced.
"Kurt showed his unbreakable spirit every day," Houston Football head coach Willie Fritz said. "He had a tremendously positive influence on every single person in our program and on this program as a whole. Kurt was fortunate enough to love what he did for a living and had an unbelievable impact on so many people across so many programs. Kurt had his family, faith and football and that's what he cared about."
Death is undefeated, but Coach Hester took it to multiple overtimes.
Hester is survived by his wife, Seana, and children Sydney, Rieleah and Remy. He was 61.
Hester had been nominated to the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Cougar Award on Wednesday.
The 61-year-old was diagnosed with melanoma in February and given four to six weeks to live. Hester had seen improvement with the cancer receding but was hospitalized ahead of Houston's game against Arizona with an infection.
SUPPORT COACH HESTER'S FAMILY
https://www.bonfire.com/kurt-hester-is-unbreakable/
"Kurt showed his unbreakable spirit every day," Houston Football head coach Willie Fritz said. "He had a tremendously positive influence on every single person in our program and on this program as a whole. Kurt was fortunate enough to love what he did for a living and had an unbelievable impact on so many people across so many programs. Kurt had his family, faith and football and that's what he cared about."
Death is undefeated, but Coach Hester took it to multiple overtimes.
Hester is survived by his wife, Seana, and children Sydney, Rieleah and Remy. He was 61.
Hester had been nominated to the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Cougar Award on Wednesday.
The 61-year-old was diagnosed with melanoma in February and given four to six weeks to live. Hester had seen improvement with the cancer receding but was hospitalized ahead of Houston's game against Arizona with an infection.
SUPPORT COACH HESTER'S FAMILY
https://www.bonfire.com/kurt-hester-is-unbreakable/
– UHCougars.com –
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