Ex-Chaminade coach Joseph Thomas dies

Joseph F. Thomas was forced to inspire hope in others from a young age.

As a sophomore in high school during the Great Depression, he left school to work on a milk wagon. Every penny he earned went to support his family.

As an educator, he sought to inspire hope in his pupils.

He retired from Chaminade High School in Mineola in 1988 after 40 years and numerous roles at the school. As its varsity football coach from 1948 to 1969, he compiled a 120-46-7 record, including an 8-0-0 record in 1961. He won seven Catholic High School Football League championships and was named CHSFL Coach of the Year seven times.

Thomas died in his sleep in Woodbury Jan. 6. He was 95.

A humble man, his son Joseph "Jeff" Thomas Jr. said, he was an inspiration to the "10,000 sons and daughters" he mentored during his teaching and coaching career.

"He always found other sources for his success," Jeff Thomas said. "In an age of such self-posturing, he is just that rare breed of individual.

"He is part of that Greatest Generation," Jeff added. "I never saw him angry, even when he was cut off in the car. He would say, 'He was probably racing to see his wife in the hospital.' He always found a reason to find the good in everybody."

Thomas graduated from St. John the Baptist High School in Philadelphia in 1936 and attended the University of Dayton on a football scholarship. He graduated in 1940 with a master's in education.

He coached at North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh until 1942. That same year, he joined the Army's 8th Infantry Division during World War II, earning a first lieutenant ranking and a Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster for meritorious service during his three years of active duty.

"My dad basically was coming from a place of service to others," Jeff Thomas said. "He wanted to help everyone find their strength, find their champion within. He had a prolific career of producing champions."

Among the thousands he mentored while at Chaminade was veteran stage and film actor Brian Dennehy, a 1956 graduate and Flyers football star. According to Jeff Thomas, Dennehy flew more than 10,000 miles to attend his father's retirement ceremony. In a phone call to Thomas' other son, Michael, Dennehy remarked how his former coach never seemed "self absorbed or egotistical, rather always reflecting all the praise back on the diverse sources of his successes."

Chaminade will host a memorial Mass on Jan. 29 at Darby Auditorium at 7 p.m. In addition to Jeff and Michael, Thomas is survived by a daughter Kathie Cybriwsky of Syosset; sisters Ann Mercurio, Helen Dallin and Theresa Donlon, all of Philadelphia; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Thomas' wife, Kay, died in 1996.