Taylor Swift's Beloved Teacher Dies on Her, Travis Kelce's Wedding Day

Adam Sandler's Marriage Advice to Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Revealed After Officiating Wedding

Kirk Schwabe was Taylor Swift’s No. 1 fan, forever and always.

The former Chicago police officer—who taught Swift in high school before becoming one of her bodyguards in the early years of her career—died following a battle with cancer on July 3, the same day Swift wed Travis Kelce in New York City, Schwabe’s family told The Telegraph. He was 69.

“My dad had a remarkable way of making people feel seen, valued, and protected,” his daughter told the outlet. “Whether you were family, one of his students, or someone like Taylor whose path crossed his, he cared deeply about people. That’s the legacy he leaves behind.”

And indeed, Schwabe’s path first crossed Swift’s in 2004, two years before she’d release her Debut album, when he taught her criminal justice at her Nashville high school. Just five years later, at the request of her family he quit his teaching job to become her bodyguard as her career began to reach new heights.

Schwabe recalled this period of the Grammy winner’s life in an interview with the Telegraph in the days before his passing.

“I told her, ‘You’re a superstar,’” he recalled. “‘This is not fun and games no more. You are it. Everything keeps going up and up and up, and the sky’s the limit for you.’”

As for what Schwabe remembered from those early days, he joked that a lot of it included waiting for Swift to change into different costumes for her performances, quipping, “She’s not the fastest dresser.”

Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images

And though Schwabe was only Swift’s bodyguard for a few years, his impact was always felt. In fact, when Swift made her acting debut in the 2010 film Valentine’s Day, her character had a teacher named Mr. Schwabe in honor of her real-life mentor.

“That was her idea,” Schwabe told The Telegraph. “They told her to improvise.”

As for what her former teacher thought of Swift marrying the guy on the football team, Schwabe had no qualms about Kelce.

“I do trust Taylor’s judgment,” he said. “She knows what’s best.”

And according to Schwabe’s wife Janet Schwabe, he wouldn’t mince his words, telling The Telegraph that he treated Swift “like he did his daughters.”

Unfortunately, Schwabe’s illness prevented him from being one of the 1,000 friends and loved ones who gathered at Madison Square Garden from all eras of Swift and Kelce’s lives to watch them say, “I do.”

For a closer look at the nuptials, read on.

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