The community is invited to a very special celebration on Friday, Oct. 27, at the main athletic field at Pine Bush High School as we rededicate the new Thomas F. Lonergan Field.

The field rededication will take place before the homecoming football game against Kingston, which is also senior night for our cheerleaders and football players. Festivities begin at 6:15 p.m.

(If you can’t make the event, click here to watch the livestream.)

The festivities include the presentation of the colors by the American Legion Post 1308 Color Guard, the alma mater and Star-Spangled Banner presented by students of our Pine Bush High School Choral Department and some words from Superintendent Brian Dunn, Board of Education President Gretchen Meier and former Superintendent Dr. Bill Bassett. Then the ceremony and ribbon cutting,  rededicating the field to Coach Lonergan, a man who devoted 32 years to the Pine Bush Central School District as a beloved physical education teacher, coach and mentor. A spectacular fireworks display will light up the sky above the new turf field following the rededication ceremony.

 

 

“We are so honored to be rededicating our main athletic field for Coach Thomas Lonergan,” said Pine Bush Superintendent Brian Dunn. “From what we learned about Coach Lonergan, from his family,  those who worked with him as well as his students, he was everything that Pine Bush stands for – he had impeccable integrity, was dedicated to his students and players, and had the respect and admiration of all who met him.”

 

Thomas F. Lonergan

Thomas F. Lonergan was born on a farm near Ticonderoga, N.Y., on  Jan. 15, 1912, where he spent his entire childhood, according to his oldest daughter, Gloria Jean. Growing up on a farm included much hard, physical work. At 21, on a hot summer day while pitching hay on the farm, the young man thought there must be a better way to earn his living. He had recently had a dream about being a coach. Soon after, he enrolled at SUNY Cortland to become a teacher. Lonergan and his wife, Irene Ann, had three daughters, Gloria Jean, Marlene and Geri Lyn. He later earned his master’s degree at Columbia and NYU. He taught in Kinderhook, N.Y. and Central Islip on Long Island.

“He missed the mountains terribly,” said Gloria Jean.

So when a physical education position opened up in Pine Bush, he accepted after interviewing with Amy Bull Crist. A history buff, Coach Lonergan also taught a semester of history.

 

 

Marshall “Marsh”Canosa was a teacher in Pine Bush, overlapping his first five years teaching with Coach Lonergan’s last five years. Lonergan was the dean of students when Marsh taught at Pine Bush High School.

“Tom was really a good man and beloved by the community,” said Marsh. “He was a big burly guy, loveable with a tough side.”

Lonergan’s tenure in Pine Bush lasted from 1942 through 1974. Throughout those years, he touched the lives of so many, as a physical education teacher, driver education teacher and coach of football, baseball and basketball. Gloria Jean, who was recently in the area for a Pine Bush High School reunion, said several men at the reunion approached her to tell her how much her dad impacted their lives.  

“He was there for them when they needed guidance,” she said. “He was more than a teacher or a coach.  He was an exemplary man.”

John Pluchino graduated from Pine Bush in 1964. He remembers Lonergan fondly.

“He was an outstanding person,” said Pluchino. “Coach Lonergan led a life that was a perfect example for us young people to see and follow. He was so dedicated. He was an inspiration. He inspired me and many others to do our best.”

Gloria Jean recounted how her dad was such a dedicated family man. They had dinner together every night. He had multiple jobs to provide for his family. He picked apples and corn, was a carpenter’s helper, even painted the school’s classrooms during summers, bringing Gloria Jean along to help.

“He taught me how to paint radiators and woodwork,” she said. “We would paint all day. I loved being with him.”

Years later, she would accompany him to New York City each weekend when he was working on his master’s degree. While he attended classes, she would go to the library and help him with his research. “He was a thesis away from his doctorate,” Gloria Jean recalled.

Coach Lonergan died on Oct. 24, 1983.

“In the late 1980s, there was a discussion about naming the athletic field for Tom,” Marsh said. “The board president recommended it.” On Sept. 24, 1988, the Thomas F. Lonergan Field was first dedicated with many of his family, friends and former students in attendance.

Forty years after his passing, the district will rededicate this new, state-of-the-art turf field to a man who meant so much to so many, who touched the lives of kids who still talk about his impact 50-plus years later. An incredible legacy of love and dedication.

 

 

“A week before he died, he told me ‘I’ve had a wonderful life. I am so content and I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do’,” said Gloria Jean. “He would have been so honored to have this field named for him. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

 

We invite the entire Pine Bush community to join us on Friday, Oct. 27, at 6:15 p.m. as we rededicate our new turf field to Coach Thomas F. Lonergan. Following the rededication will be senior night for our cheerleaders and football players and our homecoming football game.

 

 

Important information

• Rededication of the Thomas F. Lonergan Field at Pine Bush High School
• Friday, Oct. 27, 2023
• 6:15 p.m.
• Senior Night activities to follow
• Homecoming Football Game at 7 p.m.
• No one will be allowed reentry if they leave the premises