San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Revered coaches left rich legacies
During the quiet of our pandemic lockdown, three of the Bay Area’s most beloved high school coaches have died.
Jesse Freitas Sr. and Ernie Feibusch lived into their 90s, while Charles Hatch succumbed to cancer at the age of 63. All were members of at least one athletic Hall of Fame. Each left indelible legacies.
An inaugural member of the 49ers, Freitas was the most famous of the trio.
Before his death Monday at 99, he was thought to be the second oldest living former professional football player.
A quarterback and defensive back at Santa Clara University, Freitas was selected in the 1944 NFL draft by the Chicago CardinalsPittsburgh Steelers, when NFL teams were combining rosters during World War II, but he went to war instead. He earned a Bronze Star with the U.S. Army and was a commander at the Battle of the Bulge.
After his discharge, he played four seasons in the AllAmerica Football Conference, beginning with two seasons with the 49ers before stints with the Chicago Rockets and original Buffalo Bills. (The AAFC folded after the 1949 season; the 49ers joined the NFL while Chicago and Buffalo folded.)
He made his mark in athletics by coaching 17 seasons at Serra, beginning in 1950. Known as “Papa Jess,” Freitas had three stints with the Padres, leading them to a 102493 record and seven league titles — three in the West Catholic Athletic League.
Known for his biting humor and tough oldschool ways, Freitas was a “maverick and very unpredictable,” said Serra graduate and longtime sports and freelance writer John Murphy, whose brother played for Freitas. “Opposing coaches feared him. He had a super team with all the parts in 1968. Switched to a runheavy power game in 1969 with Lynn Swann at quarterback and three hardnosed running backs.”
“Coach Freitas played a big role in the lives of many Serra students and athletes,” Rich Breault, a player on that team, wrote on Facebook. “The lessons I learned from ‘Papa Jess’ and the other coaches helped shape my life.”
Keith Yanagi, a 1969 Serra graduate, said Freitas “always knew when to be quiet, calm and collected, and then brought the hammer down on us when we needed it.”
Wrote Serra graduate Ken Stewart: “A legend. A great man.”
Feibusch, a legendary soccer coach at Lowell, died shortly after his 95th birthday on April 19. Born in Berlin, his family moved to San Francisco when he was 12. During WWII, he joined the Army Air Corps. He was shot down over Europe, but eventually made his way to London.
In a remarkable 44year coaching career, Feibusch led Lowell to 20 Academic Athletic Association titles and won more than 670 games. He was inducted into the U.S. Soccer, San Francisco Prep and Lowell Sports Foundation halls of fame.
He taught at Lowell for 35 years, was secretary of the U.S. Soccer Federation and founded the Vikings Youth Soccer program that introduced thousands to the game.
In a Lowell alumni Facebook tribute, Feibusch was remembered “as a larger than life figure who always spoke his mind and cared about the young men and women he coached even years after they had graduated.”
Former player Michael Young wrote on Facebook: “Thank you coach for everything you taught me. My sweetest memories of Lowell almost all involve playing soccer for you.”
Hatch was a tremendous threesport athlete at now defunct Wilson, and then became one of the city’s most versatile assistant coaches, working with the football, basketball and track and field teams at Burton, Lincoln, Lowell and Wilson.
Hatch played football at Cal and was San Francisco’s first 7foot high jumper, winning the 1974 state meet with a mark of 70. The last 17 years he served as Lowell’s sprint coach under head coach Andy Leong. “He was a big reason we had our best (sprint) relay teams (boys and girls) during the same period,” Leong said.
In February, two months before he died, the California Interscholastic Federation awarded Hatch with one of 11 statewide honor coach citations.
A Facebook tribute to Hatch was filled with stories of his playful nature and many inside jokes. Wrote Ike Elliott: “He left a legacy as a friend, an athlete, educator, teacher, mentor and coach. His footprints have touched so many lives, especially in the city of San Francisco. Hatch lived a life that cannot be duplicated. He will be truly missed.”