Richard Eustace O'Shaughnessy
How do you know Richard? Please share your stories and photos, and help spread the word about this page!
Richard (Dick) Eustace O'Shaughnessy died on December 5, 2020 at his home in Mirror Lake, NH after an extended period of declining health with his wife and daughter at his side.
Dick was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on June 8, 1931, one of six children of Henry E., and Emma C. O'Shaughnessy. He lived in Seaford, Long Island, NY, for most of his formative years, and graduated from Mepham High School in 1949. He then attended The Hill School in Pottstown, PA for one post-graduate year. He was a member of the undefeated 1949 Hill School football team and won the National Prep school wrestling championship at 175 lbs. These accomplishments paved the way for his entrance to the University of Michigan. There he played football from 1951 to 1953 and was captain of the 1953 Michigan Wolverines football team. He was selected as the center on the 1952 All-Big Ten Conference football team and on the 1952 and 1953 Catholic All-America teams. His coach said, "Dick never made a bad snap from center." He also won the Big Ten Conference heavyweight wrestling championships in both 1952 and 1953, and went on to the Olympic wrestling trials in Oklahoma.
He and his future wife, Winnie, met when they were both classmates at the University of Michigan, and were married on August 28, 1954. They both graduated in 1955 and had seven children in the course of their 66 years together. After serving three years in the United States Air Force from 1956 to 1959, Dick spent 36 years as a football coach, teacher, and administrator at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He served as the head football coach for 20 years through the 1983 season. He also was a dorm master, science teacher, and served as the school's assistant director of athletics and physical education.
Throughout his career at The Hill, he was known for his fairness and kindness as the Dean of Students, and for his dedication and compassion as a coach and teacher. Coming from humble beginnings himself, he always had time to stop and talk to the grounds crew, the equipment guy and the kitchen workers. His children didn't know of his sports success when they were growing up, and even then, it was Mom who told them.
He was a living example of how being honest, generous, upright and hardworking leads to a rich and meaningful life. However, he would always give credit for his successes to others, especially three coaches who believed in his potential and paved the way for his success in life.
After retiring from The Hill in 1996, the family moved to Mirror Lake, NH. To subsidize his retirement, he learned how to be a blacksmith and opened The Country Forge, which became a thriving piece-of-the-past business.
He and Winnie loved fly-fishing and spent numerous hours on local ponds as well as on various rivers all over the United States. In their later years, the lure of the prolific New Zealand waters drew them across the Pacific eleven times, many times with their son, Andy. Fishing was a source of peace and pleasure for him, though he always said, "Winnie is a better fisherman than I."
His moral compass was always true. He embraced the teachings of Jesus and lived the credo: "Love your neighbor as yourself." The family will always remember the day he spontaneously dove into a river to save a child who had been swept over a waterfall. That memory told them more about their father than any long lectures. Dick was active in his church throughout his life, serving as an altar server as a young boy, and later in life, as a minister of the Eucharist at St. Katharine Roman Catholic church.
The facts: Dick leaves his sweetheart, Winifred Sarr (Winnie) and his seven children: Timothy Eustace and his wife Kathryn; Susan Warren and her husband, Lawrence; Patrick and his wife Beth; Ellen Nelson and her husband Mark; Andrew; Mary Doherty and her husband Dan; Ann and her husband Todd, 15 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in the summer. "In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to The Hill School 860 High St. Pottstown, PA 19464 to support financial aid in honor of Dick O'Shaughnessy, or to The Scholarship Fund, St. Katharine Drexel Church, P.O. Box 180, Wolfeboro, NH, 03894.
For more information and online guestbook, please go to www,baker-gagnefuneralhome.com