M-A student and water polo player Dylan Scirpo passed away on Sunday evening. Dylan was 17 and about to start his senior year.
Since his passing, the M-A community has shown an outpouring of love and support for Dylan and his family.
“Dylan is our world,” Kelly Scirpo, Dylan’s mom, said. “He is funny, kind, sensitive, thoughtful.”
“I always admired Dylan’s sensitivity and ability to make others feel special,” added Dylan’s dad Bob Scirpo. “Whether it was going out of his way to celebrate someone’s birthday, help a friend out in trouble, or get somebody to a better place using his sharp sense of humor—he was good at cutting the tension in a room.”
With an outgoing personality and a large group of friends, Dylan was well-known and widely loved at school. “Dylan was one of the most loyal and loving people I had in my inner circle, and I could not have asked for a better friend than ‘Dscirp,’” senior Jack Preston said.
“Dylan was the funniest motherf*cker I’ve met,” added senior Casey Watkins, one of Dylan’s closest friends. “Every time with him was either laughing as hard as I could, or talking deep.”
“He had such a caring soul and was the person to go to when you needed a good laugh or a shoulder to cry on,” said senior Bella Cormican. “Dylan is still super important to me and my friends, and it is truly heartbreaking that he won’t be by our sides for our senior year.”
Dylan was a competitive water polo player on the M-A team and the Stanford club team and was planning on competing at the collegiate level. He was also a member of M-A’s swim team.
“He loved that feeling of being good at something and the cheers from the crowd,” Kelly Scirpo said. “Every time he scored or did something well, he would look for me in the stands.”
Dylan didn’t hold back from scolding his teammates for their mistakes, but only because he did the same for himself. He was constantly pushing himself and his teammates to be the best players possible, while making sure to call out any parts of the game that he saw as unfair.
“He is the reason I love water polo. He is the reason I have kept playing all these years. I can’t say what impact on me he had, except that he made me who I am,” Watkins said.
He is the reason I love water polo. He is the reason I have kept playing all these years. I can’t say what impact on me he had, except that he made me who I am.
Senior Casey Watkins
Girls water polo coach and M-A teacher James Nelson knew Dylan well in and out of the pool. “Both quick-witted and an excellent listener, he inspired lively conversations and debates,” Nelson said. “His energy in the pool was also similar. His talent as a water polo player was exceptional, and his love of the game was clear in his knowledge of technical tactics and skills as well as his drive to excel. He made the game beautiful.”
Even when on dry land, Dylan was almost always busy. He had two jobs, was a strong student dedicated to school, and spent lots of time with his family, girlfriend, and friends, who Kelly Scirpo said were “like brothers.”
“His work ethic was something I admire deeply,” Cormican said. “It still amazes me that he was able to work multiple jobs while keeping up outstanding grades and being an amazing water polo player.”
Dylan worked at local restaurant Lutticken’s and was a water polo coach and lifeguard at the Menlo Circus Club.
“The kids all loved Coach Dylan so much,” said Preston, who also works at the Menlo Circus Club. “He started the entire water polo program there, and every single kid he got to coach was inspired by Dylan and loved him for who he was.”
“In such a hard time, I’m just trying to be thankful that I got to share so many memories over the years and I’m trying to be grateful that God allowed me to be a part of his life,” Preston said.
His legacy is how much he loved and how he made people feel. He’s one of a kind and there will never be another like him.
Kelly Scirpo
“In the end, the pressure he put on himself was too much,” Kelly Scirpo said. “He felt so deeply and wanted to please. We miss him dearly and he knows that. His legacy is how much he loved and how he made people feel. He’s one of a kind and there will never be another like him.”
Students can visit room G-2 to write notes to Dylan with words that they never got the chance to tell him. The box will be in the room until August 23. None of the notes in the box will be read by anyone.
If you or someone you know are thinking about suicide, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
