Plaque presented to Tom Kelly’s family at the dedication of the gym in 1976.
Teacher, coach and athletic director Tom Kelly was a fixture on the Harper Woods Notre Dame High School campus nearly from the moment it opened until his untimely death in 1976 at age 50 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
Last month, a plaque that was presented to his family at a dedication of the school’s gymnasium shortly after Kelly’s passing was donated to Pontiac Notre Dame following the recent death of Kelly’s wife, Virginia, at the age of 90.
Fr. Normand Martin, s.m., who served at the Harper Woods Notre Dame campus with Kelly, delivered the following eulogy at that 1976 dedication.
(A biography of Kelly’s Notre Dame career follows the eulogy.)
A beautiful man
(A eulogy for Thomas W. Kelly delivered in 1976 by his good friend, Fr. Normand Martin, s.m., who was at the time rector of Notre Dame High School.)
“What a beautiful man.” This is a description of Tom given by one who knew him best, Gini, his wife. Often she reiterated that phrase while visiting him at the hospital. Each one of us certainly share her sentiments.
Tom was a beautiful man – an ideal husband and an ideal father, a man devoted to his wife and family and completely dedicated to Notre Dame and his work.
Yes, Tom was a beautiful man – considerate for others and unselfish in the giving of himself. Gini told me lately that in Tom's mind she always came first, with the children, and himself, second. Never did I ever hear him assert his wishes. It was always, “What do you want, Gini?” I've known Gini and Tom for sixteen years. I visited them often. Never did I hear them argue. With all due credit given to Tom, I can't help but say, “Gini, remember, you were the other half. It takes two to make an ideal marriage.”
Yes, Tom was a beautiful man – a wonderful father, a father who knew how to communicate and reason with his children. I recall Gini telling me one day this story about Mike. One Sunday, like many teenagers, Mike decided that Mass was now unimportant. This he told his dad. Tom sat him down and said simply, “Mike, show me that by staying home you will become a better man.” Mike went to church that Sunday and has gone every Sunday since. Yes, Chris, Mike, and Brian, you had a wonderful dad, a dad who was always ready and willing to listen to you, a dad who truly cherished you. And as your mother told you the other night – all three of you can be proud of yourselves. Never did you ever do anything to disappoint him.
Kelly died in June of 1976 after a long illness. He was 50.
Yes, Tom was a beautiful man – a man respected by his peers – coaches, athletic directors and referees. He was respected because he respected them. He was a man who was loyal to his school, to his league, a man who was dedicated to his work. Hours meant nothing to him. If a job had to be done, he did it, even if it meant working on Saturdays and Sundays. Gini, thanks to you for being always very understanding. I know you feel a tremendous emptiness in your life today. But I also realize your great faith. I know that you are most thankful to God for the twenty-five years that he has given you together. And you, Chris, Mike, and Brian, I know that you are also thankful for having such a wonderful father. And you, Mr. Kelly, Tom's Dad, you can certainly be proud of your son. You certainly had a lot to do with it. And we at Notre Dame, we are thankful that we had the blessing to know Tom and to work with him. And finally, as a memorial to such a beautiful man, from this very moment, the gym at Notre Dame will be known as the Tom Kelly Memorial Gym.
A student at Notre Dame High School in 1976 wrote the following biography of Kelly shortly after his passing.
“He was the guy who built my self confidence,” one of his former baseball players said of Mr. Tom Kelly. “My junior year, I was sitting on the end of the bench. He must have known that I felt pretty bad about not playing. In the middle of the game, he came over to me and said, ‘Don't get down on yourself. I've got some seniors who I want to give a chance to play. But if they don't perform, you’ll play.’ Sure enough, he sent me up to pinch-hit in the seventh inning and I hit a double. I had a positive attitude after that, and I started every game for the rest of my high school career. That was twelve years ago, but I'll never forget it.”
Kelly had a profound effect on many of the thousands of students who came to know him in the classroom, in the gym and on the playing field.
Father Omer St. Onge, s.m., former principal of Notre Dame and then Superior of the Marist Fathers, said at the requiem mass for Kelly. “When one thinks of who has had the most influence at Notre Dame, one might list principals and administrators. But no one person helped to shape the character of Notre Dame High School more than Tom Kelly.”
Kelly graduated from Detroit Catholic Central in 1943. After a brief stint in the Navy, he attended the University of Detroit where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1949. He started teaching that year at St. Francis Home for Boys where he taught seventh and eighth grade math, English and Social Studies. After three years, he moved to St. Veronica where he taught until Notre Dame opened in 1955.
In those early years, Kelly was head football coach. In 1957, only Notre Dame's third year in existence, Kelly guided his team to the Central Division championship and the Soup Bowl.
In 1960, he took over as athletic director and moved from football coach to baseball coach. In 1961, his team won the Central Division title. That same year, Notre Dame beat Detroit St. Thomas in Tiger Stadium to become Catholic League champs. That began an outstanding string of successes for Kelly's baseball teams. In 14 years of coaching baseball, his teams won eight Central Division crowns: 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967. 1969. 1972 and 1974.
In 14 years of coaching baseball at NDHS, Kelly’s teams won eight Central Division crowns: 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967. 1969. 1972 and 1974.
Kelly was named Baseball Coach of the Year by the Detroit News in 1972, the year his team won another Catholic League championship.
“That was a great year,” Joe Spada, who at the time was assistant baseball coach, recalled. “Against Bishop Gallagher, the defending state champs, Notre Dame set up a four-man relay on a long fly ball to cut down the potential winning run at the plate in the tenth inning. Then we come back and scored to win the game, 1-0. In the Catholic League championship game, Notre Dame beat one of the best pitchers in the state from Redford St. Mary, 2-1.”
In 1974, his last year as baseball coach, Mr. Kelly was named by his peers Michigan's Coach of the Year in Class A as well as Catholic League Coach of the Year.
Kelly's career as athletic director also was outstanding.
“He did whatever he could for Notre Dame," remarked Al Baumgart, [then-] football coach and dean of discipline. “He would show eighth-graders around the school and talk to their dads. When the swimming coach couldn't make it over Christmas holiday, Tom supervised the swimming practices. He would drive the freshman football and freshman basketball teams to away games. He would attend every athletic event he possibly could. He always showed the students that he was interested in them and always tried to show that he cared.”
“Tom Kelly was always organized and efficient," added Spada. “He saw that the old locker room setup wasted space. He drew up new plans, had it remodeled, and more than doubled its capacity. In phys-ed class, he was organized as well. That's why he had no discipline problems. The only times he would raise his voice were when a student defaced property or degraded another student.”
Walt Bazylewicz, director of physical education, health and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit, taught at Notre Dame and coached for four years under Kelly's directorship.
“He never did anything to warrant criticism either in the classroom or on the ploying field,” Bazylewicz said. “He was truly a gentleman."
Mr. Tom Kelly died in June of 1976 after a long illness. He was 50.
Perhaps the most fitting tribute was paid by a Notre Dame alumnus who taught and coached baseball at a Warren high school. “Mr. Tom Kelly is not just the coach, but he is the ‘person’ who influenced me the most in my life.”
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