Obituary

Coach Edward Aloysius ‘The Ledge’ Farrell, 81

Posted

He learned to love sports from a grandparent, he learned to love a spouse after recovering from a car accident and he spread his love of sports by coaching and constantly teaching players how to shoot a basketball or hit a baseball or softball, no matter their age.

Edward Aloysius Farrell who grew up in Brooklyn and Far Rockaway, went to college in Washington, D.C., and lived in Virginia, Valley Stream, Malverne and San Antonio died on Jan. 2. He was 81.

Born March 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, he was the first son of Edward and Marian Farrell and one of 14 children. As a youngster his maternal grandfather, Jacob Haugh, took Farrell to many baseball games that nurtured his love for that sport, said Susan Farrell, née Burney, who was married to Farrell for 55 years. He never lost his love for baseball as he became a legendary softball player on the South Shore known as “The Ledge” short for legend.

When Farrell’s family moved to Far Rockaway, he found that basketball was the dominant sport and began playing with enough skill to earn a hoops scholarship to The George Washington University after graduating from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn.

At GW, Farrell was hospitalized after a vehicular accident. “I went with a friend to visit him in the hospital and we started dating after he got better,” Susan said. On Aug. 28, 1965 in Arlington, Va., the couple was married.

The family moved north in 1969, when Farrell secured a job teaching physical education and health and coaching at Lawrence Junior High School, which he did for 30 years. He coached other sports but his legendary status sprouted from coaching the boys’ basketball team amassing a career record of 318-63 that included a 57-game winning streak.

During those years Farrell became known not only for the victories but for his constant use of uplifting quips that fostered a positive impact on his players. Robert Webb met Farrell in the 1980s playing in the Valley Stream-based Claude Charles Memorial Softball League.

“I’ll always remember his willingness to help people, teach people, he volunteered his time with younger players to make them better basketball players,” Webb said, adding that Farrell was “one of the league’s premier players for many, many years,” hitting in the three spot, playing third base and hitting with power and for average akin to Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams.

Webb said he still has the batting tip sheet that Farrell gave the players on his softball team many years ago. He last played softball with Farrell at Bay Park in 2015. Webb supplied three of Farrell’s famous sayings (see Ed Farrell’s famous quotations).

“He was a very fine individual, very competitive, very kind to other people,” said Darius “Big Daddy” Burton, who played softball with Farrell and was a fellow gym teacher and coach at Lawrence Junior High. Burton’s nickname is a compliment to his power hitting on the softball field.

After retiring from Lawrence in 2000, Farrell did not stop working as he taught physical education classes at Molloy College. “I love teaching at Molloy College because it is a caring community,” he wrote on the school’s website. “Everyone around you shows respect to each other.” A video of him making a backwards half-court shot at 72 is on the Molloy site.

“He would take kids and bring them into the Molloy summer program and work with them,” said Bob Houlihan, a former athletic director and vice president of student affairs at Molloy who knew Farrell for more than 20 years. “He would take kids at Valley Stream Park behind the swimming pool and work with them every morning on shooting. He would help out anybody. He was just a wonderful man and honestly made you a better person by knowing him.”

Farrell would also work with senior softball players as if they were still kids, teaching and coaching them on a regular basis, said others who knew him. He had an open invite for all senior softball travel players men and women in their 60s. 70s and 80s to join him on Sunday mornings at Malverne High School to practice their skills. One woman who traveled the country playing softball who would be at the Sunday practices.  

“He was really the nicest guy, always there for you and was really knowledgeable on hitting,” said softballer Richie Titone. “He’d put barrels out in the field and tell you to hit them and always showing you how to hit to right field.

Ed is survived by wife Susan, his daughters and sons-in-law Beth, Jay, Kim, Alex, Tricia, and Ken; and 11 grandchildren Jake, Kim, Susannah, Caroline, Jack, Luke, Emily, Lily, SanSan, Sophie and Sam. His siblings John, Mike, Joan, Fran, Joe, Jim, Stephen, Monica and Marian, and 36 nieces and nephews.

“He was a very loving person, we had a nice life,” Susan said. “He was a great friend and a great father for my kids.”