School statement on death of loved equipment manager

November 3, 2008 12:58 PM Email| Comments (1)| Text size – +

HAVERHILL – Affectionately known as “Coach Sean” on the high school football field, Sean Cahalane graduated from Whittier Vocational Technical High School in 2007 and could not have been more loved there. Athletic Director Kevin Bradley’s phone rang nonstop this morning as his former teammates called to express shock about his tragic death.

“He meant so much to the kids,” Bradley said. “They are all crying. He never played a down but he touched every one of their lives.”

Sean, 20, died with his mother in an early morning fire today at their Lawrence home. He was the much-loved equipment manager for the Wildcats Football Team his junior and senior year, and no one was more ecstatic when the team went to the super bowl both years.

“He made sure every practice and game went well,” Bradley said. “He wasn’t athletic, but he wanted to be part of the team and he was. Sean found a way to contribute and was definitely one of them.” He would set up the cones and hand shields for drills at practice and always had the water jugs ready. When a helmet strap or other equipment would break he would rush to fix it with a tool belt he was given from the school’s electrical department. His teammates would drive to Lawrence to pick him up so he could be part of the Friday night spaghetti dinners.

His Whittier teachers, several of whom would often run into him at his job at Market Basket, remembered his infectious smile and can-do attitude.

“He never had a down day,” said Carol LaValley, a teacher’s aide. No matter what you asked of him he would make the best of it and try to do the task. Sean always had a smile that would make you forget whatever was bothering you. He would bring out the best in everyone.”

Cahalane majored in marketing and she remembered working with him on creating a business plan for his senior project. His was “Sean’s Lawns” and included his goal to help the elderly with lawn work. In math class, he often exasperated the other students with his enthusiasm, said Math Teacher Andrew Cherouvis. “He was always taking out his calculator and being the first to finish problems. He would tell the other kids they weren’t trying hard enough.”

It was the same on the football field. If Coach Bradley noticed his team wasn’t giving their all, he would ask Sean to run the drills. “He would yell at them to try harder,” he said. “They started calling him ‘Coach Sean’.” When football was over, he joined the basketball and softball teams as equipment manager. “He touched a lot of lives,” Coach Bradley said.

“Whenever you were having a bad day, all you had to do was look over and see Sean’s constant smile reminding you that things were never as bad as they seemed,” said his teacher Michael Ruggelo. “He was one of the sweetest human beings I was fortunate enough to know.”

“He was an angel,” said his teacher Michelle Touma, “funny and smiling all the time. I really enjoyed being his teacher.”

After he graduated from Whittier, Cahalane enrolled at Northern Essex Community College where he was a student until his untimely death.