Bernie ZZ Guilfoyle
1926-07-26 1995-07-04
Bernie Guilfoyle had 200 varsity basketball victories under his belt when he quit coaching to become the athletic director at St. Joseph High School in 1967.
None was quite as sweet as the 200th, when the Vikings upset a highly rated East High team, 59-56, in the Eastlake North Class AAA sectional tournament final in February 1967.
A few days before the crucial game, Mr. Guilfoyle suffered an acute kidney stone attack and was admitted to Euclid-Glenville Hospital. The stone was removed the day of the game, and Mr. Guilfoyle left his hospital bed that evening to provide the inspiration for the team’s dramatic triumph.
Following the game, the team presented him with the game ball.
Mr. Guilfoyle, 68, of Cleveland, died of heart failure yesterday at the home of his son, Joe, in North Royalton.
He was born in Queens, N.Y., and served with the Seabees in World War II. Then he studied at the University of Dayton on a scholarship for basketball and baseball. He earned three varsity letters playing third base and pitching for the school’s baseball team and one letter for basketball.
Upon graduation from Dayton in 1951, he coached football, basketball, baseball and track and served as intramural director at Piqua, Ohio, Catholic School.
In 1955, he came to Cleveland to teach and coach at St. Joseph, then the largest boys school in Ohio. He was head coach in basketball and golf and an assistant coach in football.
Under Mr. Guilfoyle, the Vikings made their first regional basketball tournament appearance in 1959. His 1961 team, which posted an 18-0 regular season record, was one step away from the state finals, when it suffered its first defeat in the regionals, losing to East Tech by three points in the last 19 seconds.
During his coaching stint at St. Joseph, Mr. Guilfoyle had eight sectional championship teams in 12 years. Of his 200 varsity basketball victories, 181 of them were at St. Joseph. His career record was 200-73.
“Now I move into the third phase of coaching,” Mr. Guilfoyle told a reporter in 1967, when he gave up coaching to become athletic director. “First I had delusions of grandeur; then I was satisfied as a high school coach; now I want to deal with as many young men as possible.”
Before Mr. Guilfoyle stepped down as athletic director in 1979, the Vikings boasted a football team and a basketball team that advanced to state championship competition.
Mr. Guilfoyle spent a year working for the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas, then returned to St. Joseph. He continued teaching English and social studies at the school after St. Joseph merged with Villa Angela, a girls school, to form Villa Angela-St. Joseph. He coached its golf team.
He belonged to the Villa Angela-St. Joseph Hall of Fame and the Ohio High School Hall of Fame. In May, he received the Most Respected Opponent Award from the St. Edward High School Hall of Fame. He also was listed in Who’s Who Among High School Teachers.
Three of Mr. Guilfoyle’s five sons have coached high school basketball teams; Mike, of Aurora, at Solon High; Kevin, of Columbus, at Bishop Watterson High; Joe, most recently at North Royalton High School.
Mr. Guilfoyle lived in Cleveland until several health problems led him to move in with Joe in March.
In addition to sons Mike, Kevin and Joe, Mr. Guilfoyle is also survived by sons Steve of Las Vegas and Rich of San Diego; a daughter, Karen Shane of Bath; 15 grandchildren; two brothers, and a sister.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 175 E. 200th St. and Lake Shore Blvd. Brickman & Sons Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
None was quite as sweet as the 200th, when the Vikings upset a highly rated East High team, 59-56, in the Eastlake North Class AAA sectional tournament final in February 1967.
A few days before the crucial game, Mr. Guilfoyle suffered an acute kidney stone attack and was admitted to Euclid-Glenville Hospital. The stone was removed the day of the game, and Mr. Guilfoyle left his hospital bed that evening to provide the inspiration for the team’s dramatic triumph.
Following the game, the team presented him with the game ball.
Mr. Guilfoyle, 68, of Cleveland, died of heart failure yesterday at the home of his son, Joe, in North Royalton.
He was born in Queens, N.Y., and served with the Seabees in World War II. Then he studied at the University of Dayton on a scholarship for basketball and baseball. He earned three varsity letters playing third base and pitching for the school’s baseball team and one letter for basketball.
Upon graduation from Dayton in 1951, he coached football, basketball, baseball and track and served as intramural director at Piqua, Ohio, Catholic School.
In 1955, he came to Cleveland to teach and coach at St. Joseph, then the largest boys school in Ohio. He was head coach in basketball and golf and an assistant coach in football.
Under Mr. Guilfoyle, the Vikings made their first regional basketball tournament appearance in 1959. His 1961 team, which posted an 18-0 regular season record, was one step away from the state finals, when it suffered its first defeat in the regionals, losing to East Tech by three points in the last 19 seconds.
During his coaching stint at St. Joseph, Mr. Guilfoyle had eight sectional championship teams in 12 years. Of his 200 varsity basketball victories, 181 of them were at St. Joseph. His career record was 200-73.
“Now I move into the third phase of coaching,” Mr. Guilfoyle told a reporter in 1967, when he gave up coaching to become athletic director. “First I had delusions of grandeur; then I was satisfied as a high school coach; now I want to deal with as many young men as possible.”
Before Mr. Guilfoyle stepped down as athletic director in 1979, the Vikings boasted a football team and a basketball team that advanced to state championship competition.
Mr. Guilfoyle spent a year working for the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas, then returned to St. Joseph. He continued teaching English and social studies at the school after St. Joseph merged with Villa Angela, a girls school, to form Villa Angela-St. Joseph. He coached its golf team.
He belonged to the Villa Angela-St. Joseph Hall of Fame and the Ohio High School Hall of Fame. In May, he received the Most Respected Opponent Award from the St. Edward High School Hall of Fame. He also was listed in Who’s Who Among High School Teachers.
Three of Mr. Guilfoyle’s five sons have coached high school basketball teams; Mike, of Aurora, at Solon High; Kevin, of Columbus, at Bishop Watterson High; Joe, most recently at North Royalton High School.
Mr. Guilfoyle lived in Cleveland until several health problems led him to move in with Joe in March.
In addition to sons Mike, Kevin and Joe, Mr. Guilfoyle is also survived by sons Steve of Las Vegas and Rich of San Diego; a daughter, Karen Shane of Bath; 15 grandchildren; two brothers, and a sister.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 175 E. 200th St. and Lake Shore Blvd. Brickman & Sons Funeral Home is handling arrangements.