CCH loses former coach

AURELIO DELBELLO DEAD

Catholic Central High School is mourning the loss of one of its beloved former coaches and teachers with the passing of Aurelio Delbello.

Delbello passed away Wednesday after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 71.

Delbello’s passing follows the passing of longtime friend and co-coach Rick Credico, who passed away in August after a long battle with ALS.

Delbello attended CCH and was an outstanding athlete in both football and basketball.

He, along Credico, attended Minot State University in North Dakota where they played football and obtained their degrees.

They both eventually found their way back to Catholic Central where they were teachers and coached football.

Delbello won titles as an assistant coach with the Cougars in 1974 and 1976 before becoming head coach and leading the

Cougars to a three-peat of league championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

He retired as head coach shortly after his last league title, but continued at CCH for the duration of his career, helping out with the team as needed and eventually retiring after 35 years of teaching.

His wife, Deedee, also taught at CCH for 35 years while their son, Conor, one of four children to graduate from CCH, was a standout athlete for the Cougars.

In September 2019 Delbello and Credico were honoured for their decication as Cougar coaches at a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Cougar football team’s auxiliary facility at the CCH West campus.

Credico was able to attend the ceremony while Deedee and Conor represented

Delbello, who was unable to attend.

“Aurelio was fantastic,” said Credico at the ceremony.

“We started coaching way back when we were at university. I was just graduating and the other head coach was leaving. So Aurelio, right away, got me to coach with him. We worked together very co-operatively. Officially, he was the head coach, but we did everything together.

“We went to the meetings together and I think all of those years we coached together we might have barked at each other really hard only two or three times, which is amazing.

“We worked together, we shared everything and there was never a time when one sort of dominated over the other.

“In our life we did things together coaching and teaching, so we shared everything. And then we ended up coaching our sons.”

A Private Family Memorial Mass for

Delbello will be held on Tuesdayat 11 a.m. with Father Kevin Tumback celebrating.

The Mass will be live streamed and may be accessed via Delbello’s obituary on the Cornerstone website at