Former Southeast softball star dies at 53

Longtime Southeast Missouri State softball coach Lana Richmond never had Jayne Creek as a player.

That doesn't mean Richmond didn't know all about the talents of Southeast's first softball All-American who also holds the distinction as Richmond's first assistant after she took over the program in 1983.

"She was an all-time great, a highly competitive player," Richmond said.

Richmond, like everybody associated with the Southeast softball family, was stunned and saddened by the recent death of Jayne Angela Creek Kilgarriff, who passed away on June 23 in Clinton, Ill., where the Herrin, Ill., native lived. She was 53.

"She died unexpectedly. Oh my gosh, I was shocked," Richmond said. "She had no health issues. They think she either had a heart attack or an aneurysm, they just don't know. It's really a shame."

Creek, a third baseman who ranks among the school leaders in many career categories, played for Southeast from 1978 through 1981 under former coach Marge Mates. She earned first-team All-American honors in 1981 and was also the first Southeast athlete to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

In 2002 Creek became the first softball player to be inducted into Southeast's Athletic Hall of Fame as she was a member of the school's inaugural Hall of Fame Class.

Richmond said she was pleased to have Creek on her first Southeast staff in 1983 but Creek, who also played volleyball for one season at Southeast, didn't make coaching her profession.

Creek, an employee of Caterpillar for 24 years, was married to Jim Kilgarriff. They had no children.