Leahy's Funeral

Leahy's Funeral
by Leahy (2006-02-22 12:59:45)

In reply to: Very Interesting posted by Dennis

Twombley was a bit strange in his perceptions of ND.
Tried to convey images that didn't hit the mark.
As for Dads funeral it was a bit ugly.
Notre Dame Nation wanted dad buried in South Bend.
My mom said no. She stated that Notre Dame had Frank Leahy for all those years and she wanted him to herself now. She wanted him buried in Portland so she and all of us could visit his grave etc.
This created a real split with players, alumni, and in general lots of the ND nation.
With this said there were two ceremonies for dad. The funeral in Portland and services in S.Bend.
Al Davis in the opening of the book really scorched many of the players and dads friends, asking "where were they"?

As one reflects on dad and ND. It never was and never will be an easy place to coach or be a part of.

All I know is that dad absolutely worshiped Rockne, and ND and the alumni but more importantly, What ND stood for as it related to educating the future leaders of America. He adored the students at ND. Past and present.

I can attest to his love of ND grads as I have attested to..

in the past. My Dad had great memories of him in the Pacific during WWII.

What a gracious reply.

I thought that Twombly missed the mark repeatedly as well and it sounds like he omitted some critical information. Your dad's deep affection for Rockne has always been evident to me and what's really special is that his players had the same adoration for him, though not always during their careers. My son is a high school football coach (an assistant and a very good one, I believe). Whenever he gets really frustrated I'll throw out a line that I've heard quoted of Frank Leahy, "Have you suffered enough for success?!" And, as Johnny Lujack said, "Leahy knew the meaning of the word 'sacrifice'". As far as I'm concerned, they couldn't make statues big enough for Rockne or Leahy.