John M. Ulrich

Visitation for John M. Ulrich, 76, of Palatine since 1981, will be held Wednesday, October 22, 2025, from 2:00 PM until 9:00 p.m. at Ahlgrim Family Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwest Highway, Palatine. The Visitation will continue Thursday morning, October 23,2025; where he will lie in state from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 200 N. Plum Grove Rd., Palatine, IL, 60067. The Interment will follow in Union Cemetery, Palatine.

John was born March 23, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois and passed away October 15, 2025, in Arlington Heights, IL.

Beloved husband of the late Carin E. Ulrich (nee Rose); loving father of Kimberly (Chris), Maggie (Kent) Roesslein, Elizabeth “Cookie” (Joe) Robinson, John “Johnnie” (Courtney), and Matthew (Samantha); loving grandfather of Kelsey, Ethan, Annabelle “Annie”, Calista, Stella, Zac, Charlie, Scarlett, John III “JJ”, and Emerson; dear son of the late John and Katherine (nee Erk) Ulrich; fond brother of Barbara Ulrich and William (Kathy); beloved boyfriend of Linda Stalmah. Uncle to many treasured nieces and nephews.

John Michael Ulrich was born on March 23, 1949 to his mother Katherine and father John (Hans) Ulrich at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Chicago. He grew up in their Chicago home with his older sister Barbara and his younger brother William (Bill). The family lived across the street from Riis Park, where John developed a passion for sports, playing baseball, football & basketball. He loved spending time with his friends there as well, who endearingly still refer to him as “Johnnie Rocks.” His little league team won the Chicago City Baseball Championship in 1961. John attended Trinity Lutheran School from Kindergarten through 8th grade. He then went on to Luther North High School, where he excelled in football, basketball & baseball and met his first wife, Gail Cross (Semrow). John graduated from Luther North High School in 1966 and attended Parson’s College in Fairfield, Iowa. He returned home to Chicago and took an apprenticeship in tool & die making before being employed in sheet metal. In 1970, John began a long and successful career at NuDell Plastics.

John married Gail in 1971 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chicago. During this time, John began to pursue his passion for athletics and started coaching football and basketball at Immaculate Conception Catholic School. His athletic prowess and passion for coaching was evident as his teams gained immediate success and won multiple league championships in the Northwest Chicago Catholic Conference.

In 1975, John was blessed with the birth of his eldest child, Kimberly Ann Ulrich. The three lived in their Chicago apartment on Barry Avenue. Although John and Gail’s marriage did not last, John was thrilled to welcome his first child into the world.

A few years later, John left coaching at Immaculate Conception and began coaching at St. Timothy Catholic School in Chicago. It is around this time that he met Carin Elizabeth Rose and quickly fell in love. John and Carin were married in 1980 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines and moved to their new townhouse in Palatine. In 1981, John was blessed with his second daughter, Margaret Gretchen Ulrich. In 1983, John was blessed with his third daughter, Elizabeth Kristen Ulrich, Three years later, the family moved to their single-family home in Palatine.

Now that John had three daughters, he decided to turn his attention to their athletic futures and continue his pursuit of coaching youth athletics. Knowing that his daughters would eventually attend Palatine High School, John founded the Palatine Junior Pirates girls feeder basketball program. The program was wildly successful and immediately gained attention across the Chicagoland area. His teams were dominant and he started running summer training camps for hundreds of athletes every year. In 1987, his friend Mike Small recruited him to coach a boys team in the Chicago Chinese Basketball League. His team won the league and was invited to China to compete in the international Youth Chinese Basketball championship. However, he was unable to attend because Carin was pregnant with their third child. In 1988, Carin gave birth to their first son, John “Johnnie” Michael Ulrich II. Around this time, John left NuDell Plastics in Chicago to work at Custom Plastics in Elk Grove Village for a brief stint. From there, he was hired by the Chicago Transit Authority, in their tool & die engineering division.

In 1989, John was recruited to coach the girls basketball team at Immanuel Lutheran School in Palatine. In Coach Ulrich’s first year, the girls won the LSA State Championship and a dynasty was born. From 1990-2025, Coach Ulrich would lead Immanuel Lutheran Palatine to become an athletic powerhouse in both boys and girls basketball. In the midst of growing his incredible Bobcat program, Coach Ulrich would be blessed with his fifth child, Matthew Robert Ulrich in 1997. In 1998, John tore his rotator cuff while working at the CTA. Unable to return to the tool & die industry, he decided that coaching was his true calling and he would dedicate his time to coaching basketball year-round.

In the last 35 years, both programs have combined for an unprecedented 66 state tournament appearances, 47 final four appearances and 20 LSA state championships. At the national level, Immanuel’s boys and girls teams have combined for 44 LBAA national tournament appearances and 7 LBAA national tournament championships. In 2002, John was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall-of-Fame. Coach Ulrich’s players have gone on to both play and coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels.

However, as Coach Ulrich would tell anyone, while his teams were incredibly successful; winning and losing was never the primary goal. He always viewed his work as a “Basketball Ministry.” His focal goal was to develop high quality young people by making them better basketball players. Coach knew that bringing kids to Immanuel was the first step toward bringing them closer to knowing Christ. For decades, Coach Ulrich has been using basketball as a tool to change the lives of young people and develop them into the adults they are today. One of Coach Ulrich’s proudest accomplishments is passing on Immanuel’s basketball program to two of his former players: Coach Heather Glaser (girls) and Coach Johnnie Ulrich, Jr. (boys).

After being married for 35 years, Carin passed after a courageous battle with cancer in 2015. Following many months of grieving, John was reconnected with an old friend, Linda Stalmah. Linda and John quickly fell for one another and grew incredibly close over the last 10 years. John was particularly fond of their vacation down Historic Route 66 and their many trips to Florida. The two loved going on dinner dates and dancing to live music, as well. While many will remember John for his incredible accomplishments, what will be missed most is John’s fun-loving spirit and charismatic ability to connect with anyone. Those that knew John will miss his love for laughing, dancing, live music and a good scotch. His memory lives on through the countless friends and loved ones that he has impacted and touched over the years.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are appreciated to the John Ulrich Memorial Fund, which will support the continued tradition of Coach Ulrich’s legacy of Christian education and Bobcat basketball at Immanuel Lutheran School in Palatine, IL.