http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708300403Record-setting coach Kliewe passes away at 72
By CHRISTOPHER HUNT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 30, 2007)
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Tom Collins called him the closest thing he had to a father, next to his real dad.
Collins followed in his footsteps -as big as they were. So Collins said it was a sad day yesterday for him.
His coach, friend and mentor, Lou Kliewe, died Tuesday night at home in Pearl River, succumbing to a bout with cancer that lasted roughly a year.
“He meant a lot to a lot of people,” said Collins, Pearl River’s athletic director.
Kliewe, 72, who coached boys basketball at Spring Valley and Albertus Magnus, holds the Rockland County record for career wins with 447 over 45 years. He led Spring Valley to a state championship in 1982, which represents Rockland County’s only state title in boys basketball.
He received the county’s highest honor in 1998 when he was inducted into the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame.
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Collins said he went to Manhattan College because Kliewe did. He coached because Kliewe did. And until a few years ago only called him “Coach.”
“He was the man,” said Collins, who coached Albertus to 400 wins and was also inducted into the Rockland Sports Hall of Fame.
“You just followed what he told you to do and if you did what he told you it normally came out correctly,” Collins said. “The guy has had a marvelous career. A lot of people will remember him as a great coach. But I’ll remember him as a man that taught me to make the correct choice in life.”
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Note: Not exactly sure of the MC connection involved, but it appears to be there.
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Dear John,
I believe that Lou is a member of the Class of 1957.
May He Rest In Peace.
Mike
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