Edward Leary, 67, longtime coach, teacher

EDWARD M. LEARY

The American flag was at half-staff, and the coaches' box was draped in black bunting at the Acton-Boxborough vs. Westford Academy Thanksgiving Day football game at Leary Field in Acton.

It was a tribute to the man for whom the field was named seven years ago, former Acton-Boxborough Regional High School head football coach and physical education teacher Edward M. Leary. He would have enjoyed the outcome: Acton-Boxborough 21, Westford 7.

Mr. Leary, who died Tuesday of respiratory failure at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Westborough at age 67, also was memorialized by public address announcer Ken Mayer.

"It was a bittersweet time for many of us," said family friend Kevin Harrington of Shrewsbury, who was a linebacker on Mr. Leary's teams from 1972 to 1975. "Everybody called him Coach, but ever since I met him in middle school, I called him Mr. Leary because of my regard for him.

"I'm from a family of nine, and I know all my brothers and sisters felt he was instrumental in shaping their lives. I remember I used to go along for the ride when Mr. Leary would take my older brother Joe to prospective colleges. He did things like that for everyone, not just football players."

As head football coach at Acton-Boxborough from 1968 to 1985, Mr. Leary won four league titles. His son, Sean, a quarterback and defensive back on Mr. Leary's teams from 1981 to '83, looks back on the experience.

"Coaching and teaching was the vehicle for him to reach out to young people, and until the end of his life, he had visitors and telephone calls on a regular basis from former players and students who looked up to him for guidance and inspiration," said his son, a Holden resident.

Born in Boston, Mr. Leary graduated in 1958 from Rindge Technical High School in Cambridge, where he lettered in basketball, baseball, track, and football. A co-captain and a linebacker/guard for the football team, he was presented with the Kennedy Parks Award his senior year for his accomplishments.

Mr. Leary received his bachelor's degree in 1963 and master's degree in education in 1966, both from Boston University. He was given the Charles S. Bowers Award as BU's most valuable senior football player, in 1963.

Mr. Leary played professionally for the Boston and New Bedford Sweepers and Lowell Giants of the Atlantic Coast Football League.

After coaching at Somerville High, he was an assistant for fellow BU graduate Albie Stonkus at Acton-Boxborough from 1965 to 1967. Mr. Leary passed up a try out for the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys in favor of the head coaching position at Acton-Boxborough.

Dick Terry of Wakefield, who worked with Mr. Leary when both were Acton-Boxborough assistants and was his teammate with the Giants, regarded him as a mentor who was "born to be a coach. He had that rare gift."

A resident of Acton for 43 years, Mr. Leary taught physical education at the high school for 36 years. He also was an assistant coach at Merrimack College in 1988 and 1989 and at Harvard University from 1990 to 1993.

"Ed really established the program here," said Acton resident Ray Gallant, who played at Acton-Boxborough, joined Mr. Leary's staff in 1976, and is now assistant head coach under Bill Maver. "His first playbooks had the 'Pat Patriot' [the original Patriots] logo on the cover along with the expression 'those who stay will be champions.' He was a true teacher-coach who set goals for all his students."

Mr. Leary is a member of the Rindge Tech, Acton-Boxborough Regional High and Massachusetts Football Coaches Association halls of fame. A founder of the Acton-Boxborough Pop Warner football program and the Colonial (high school booster) Club, he was honored as Man of the Year by the Acton Chamber of Commerce in 2003.

Mr. Leary, who suffered a stroke eight years ago, was told by his doctors he might not walk again. "But he was walking five weeks after the stroke and in six months, he was walking around town," his son recalled.

"Mr. Leary was a workout fanatic," added Harrington. "When I visited him at Whittier last Saturday, his eyes were closed, but he was still doing bench presses in bed with his good arm . . . unbelievable."

Mr. Leary became a dedicated member of the American Stroke Association, raising more than $20,000 and recruiting other volunteers. In 2005, he was recognized by the New England region of the American Heart Association as the Stroke Survivor of the Year. He also worked last year with Acton selectman Terra Friedrichs, one of his former students, and the Acton Citizen Action Team collecting sports equipment for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"He got the message out to all the sports teams in the region, and people from all over helped, people from other teams, other towns, everywhere," said Friedrichs. "People brought soccer balls, Roller Blades, you name it. It was incredible. And it wouldn't have happened had Ed not been the leader that he always was."

Mr. Leary's wife of 44 years, Carol Ann (Foley), a Watertown native and "First Lady of Acton-Boxborough Football," met her future husband in an unusual way when she was a Lesley College student. "She was driving a car through Harvard Square and just missed hitting him," said their son. "Later that night, they were both at the same party, and she introduced herself as the person behind the wheel."

Mr. Leary also leaves a daughter, Maura of Acton; a brother, Dennis of Boston; two sisters, Mary Lindstrom of Francestown, N.H., and Katie Bouvie of Berkeley, Calif., and eight grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 9 a.m. today at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Acton. Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in West Acton.