Painesville and Perry communities mourning Haffa

The Perry and Painesville communities are mourning the death of Jim Haffa, who died last week at the age of 43.

Haffa, director of transportation at Riverside and JV girls basketball coach at Perry, was the portrait of health and fitness, according to sources at both schools, but died unexpectedly last week.

While no official cause has been revealed, according to Perry athletic director T.J. Rockwell, it is not related to the novel coronavirus.

Haffa is survived by his wife, Julia, and sons A.J. and Mason.

“We’re still in shock,” Rockwell said. “You look at it — 43 years old, passionate about sports, played sports, coached sports. It’s so sad.

“He was a tremendous coach. And I know he was a a better man, father and husband than he was a coach. That’s the kind of man we all aspire to be.”

Haffa coached the Pirates’ JV girls basketball team to an 18-0 record this past season. Prior to coaching three years of junior varsity girls basketball, Haffa coached junior high boys basketball at Perry.

“He was very passionate about coaching,” said head coach Roy Infalvi Jr. “The girls loved him and loved playing for him. He did a lot for our varsity team, too. I could always ask him things here and there and he had great ideas. He was a big part of what we did.”

Members of Perry’s girls basketball program were hit hard by the news.

“He’s so young. I didn’t expect it,” said freshman Grace McKoon. “I’m really shocked and really sad. He was a good coach and pushed me hard.’

Twin sister Izzy McKoon agreed that she was shocked, and said Haffa’s relationship with the players was a special one.

“He’d always joke around with us,” Izzy McKoon said. “We’d tell a joke and he’d come back with an even better joke. He was an amazing coach, person and friend.”

Upon hearing the news of Haffa’s passing, Riverside superintendent Jim Kalis sent out a district-wide memo to school personnel.

“It is with great sadness that I pass along the news that Jim Haffa passed away suddenly and unexpectedly late Wednesday night,” Kalis wrote. “Jim was our Director of Operations/Transportation and a tremendous asset to the Riverside Local School District. He provided great leadership and adored his Transportation staff. He also worked tirelessly with all the other District Departments and Administrators on a wide array of projects and was extremely well liked and respected. This is an enormous loss for our District.”

Riverside athletic director Dave Bors, who is also the school’s football coach, said Haffa nearly became a member of his footballcoaching staff, but his work duties didn’t leave enough time to do so.

Bors said Haffa’s work — and understanding — as transportation supervisor at Riverside will be missed.

“He worked hard and put in a lot of time. He really cared about people. He had a big impact on Harvey. His death is unfortunate. He’s way too young to pass. He had a lot more to offer this world.” — Harvey principal Van McWreath

Scheduling buses is just part of the job, Bors said, and Haffa was meticulous, but understanding.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is that he was such a team player,” Bors said. “I can’t tell you how many times I goofed something up my first year or two on the job, and Jim was patient with me and was great. Even if he was annoyed because I messed up — and he had reason to be — he never let you know it. He always did what was best for the district and the kids.”

Prior to taking the director of transportation position at Riverside, Haffa was business manager and transportation director at the Painesville City Schools. Harvey principal Van McWreath said Haffa was instrumental in improvements in the district, such as the weight room renovation at the high school and projects at Recreation Park.

“He worked hard and put in a lot of time. He really cared about people,” McWreath said. “He had a big impact on Harvey. His death is unfortunate. He’s way too young to pass. He had a lot more to offer this world.”

Wherever Haffa was, his affinity for shoes was borderline legendary. Infalvi said he didn’t know how many pairs Haffa had, but he always seemed to show up with a new pair — and everyone noticed.

“What I’ll remember most is his shoes,” said Grace McKoon with a laugh. “He always wore different ones. He had these red ones, and we never lost when he wore them. We all said (the winning) was because of his shoes.”

McKoon got silent and sighed.

“That’s one of our moments I’ll always remember,” she said. “I’m going to miss that.”

Haffa