A champion for student athletes, UW-Platteville athletic director dies at 39
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville community is mourning the loss of athletic director Kristina Navarro-Krupka, who died suddenly on Saturday from natural causes. She was 39 and pregnant with her first child.
Navarro-Krupka's unborn daughter, Karina Krupka, also died Saturday, according to the funeral home obituary. The funeral will take place two days before what would have been Navarro-Krupka's 40th birthday.
UW-Platteville Chancellor Tammy Evetovich said Navarro-Krupka was "an enthusiastic champion" for the university, especially its student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff. She was in her fourth year at UW-Platteville, overseeing 16 NCAA Division III programs on top of teaching.
Navarro-Krupka's social media feed was filled with Pioneer pride. Her most recent post came Friday evening when she promoted the university's football team competing in the Isthmus Bowl Saturday. The team won, 36-10.
Former UW-Platteville athletic director had a vision, and got others on board
Energetic and beaming with positivity, Navarro-Krupka always sought the silver lining of situations, even during COVID-19, said UW-Platteville head men's basketball coach Jeff Gard. She started athletic department meetings by having each coach share something positive happening in their program.
The university's athletics staff leaned young, said Gard. That meant lots of newborns around and kids running in the hallways. Navarro-Krupka was "the fun aunt," always willing to watch children if their parents had practice and eager to offer fruit snacks to anyone who asked.
"Being a Division III school, everybody tells you there’s things you can’t do, coming from a small community and having limited resources," Gard said. "She never let that hold her back for what she wanted to do. She found a way to make things work and really got everybody here to buy into the vision."
Kristina Navarro-Krupka was mentor to many students
A third-generation educator, Navarro-Krupka grew up in Madison and graduated from UW-La Crosse in 2006.
She earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from UW-Madison in 2012. She had submitted a proposal for her first book, "The Practice of Supporting Student-Athletes in College," which a publishing company had accepted.
Navarro-Krupka previously worked in the athletic departments at UW-Madison, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Oklahoma and UW-Whitewater.
Liberty Wieseman crossed paths with Navarro-Krupka while on the UW-Whitewater track and field team. She said Navarro-Krupka became a mentor to her and many others, teaching students how their time on sports teams would translate into valuable skills later in life. Navarro-Krupka placed particular emphasis on empowering women to seek leadership roles.
A major reason Wieseman enrolled at UW-Platteville to pursue a master's in sports administration was the woman leading the graduate program: Navarro-Krupka.
"She would go above and beyond," Wieseman said. "Even if you weren’t in her programs, you were just a student athlete walking through the building, she made you feel like you were the most important person to her in the moment."
Wieseman works at Westosha Central High School as a teacher and coach. She dreams of one day being a high school athletic director, a goal that feels attainable thanks to Navarro-Krupka's guidance in her life.
Funeral scheduled for Nov. 27
Navarro-Krupka is survived by her husband, Nick; father, Michael (Debbie Fairweather) Meissen; brother, Brad (Lauren) Meissen; sister, Katelyn (Jake) Keller; grandmothers, Mary Erickson and Patricia (Steve Aronson) Meissen; and grandfather, Marvin (Patty-Lee) Meissen.
Visitation is scheduled for 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, and 10 a.m. Monday at Gundersen East Funeral Home, 5203 Monona Drive, Monona, followed by a funeral at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Dennis Catholic Church, 505 Dempsey Road, Madison.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund is being set up in Navarro-Krupka’s name.
Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Platteville athletic director Kristina Navarro-Krupka dies at 39
