Paul VI Connections

Timothy P. Lenahan, '76

A lifetime resident of Haddon Township and a graduate of St. Rose of Lima before coming to Paul VI High School, Tim was a gregarious, friendly, loyal, and out-going person. He loved life and life loved him back. He sang unabashedly. He laughed out loud with no reservation, and he took great joy in engaging others in his elation – whatever it might have been at that moment. Tim was blessed with an uncanny ability to make the individual he was speaking with feel as though he or she was the most important person in the world, and with Tim it was genuine.

During our high school years, Tim was actively involved in theatre – in productions and as a member of the Drama Club. He was a student leader, elected vice president of his junior class and president of his senior class foreshadowing the leadership qualities that would become his hallmark later in life. He even racked up a pair of Senior Superlatives –Most Willing Worker and Most School Spirit. Both spoke volumes about who Tim was at that time and what he was to become. All of those accolades and accomplishments, however, took a back seat to his number one passion – basketball. From 1978 until his untimely death in 2005, Tim‘s teams at St. Rose compiled an incredible 942-191 record – a winning mark of .830. In seventeen of those seasons the Falcons steamrolled their way to more than 30 victories. In three other seasons, they topped 40 wins, and in one incredible season (1999), they racked up an unbelievable 53-0 record. Not once during that 28-year span, did the St. Rose Falcons have a losing season. Moreover, in sixteen of twenty-eight campaigns, Tim‘s squads earned league champion honors. Among his many coaching honors, Tim was inducted into the Al Carino South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame in the spring of 2004. Tim taught his players about jump shots and rebounding, for sure, but more importantly Tim used basketball as a metaphor to teach them critical lessons about life – the importance of persistence; the rare and fragile nature of integrity; the significance of honesty; the enduring character of loyalty; and the essentials of dedication, dependability, hard work, and intestinal fortitude. Countless youngsters either played for Tim at St. Rose or attended one of his many “At the Top” basketball camps. Quite a few went on to play high school basketball in South Jersey, and some were skilled enough to play at the college level. Two – Billy Lange (Navy) and Matt Brady (James Madison University), head coaches in the Division I college ranks.

There are other important facets of Tim‘s life that could be shared – his love for his wife Lisa and their

three children Taylor, Connor, and Morgan; his devotion to his faith; and his entrepreneurial spirit. Something that remains with me after all these years with such clarity and distinction is the joy I experienced whenever our paths would cross. It was like the years would melt away. It was a gift Tim had, one of many, and he readily shared it with me and so many others.

“He loved life and life loved him back. He laughed out loud with no reservation.”

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Paul VI High School

901 Hopkins Rd., Ste. B
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
Phone: 856.858.4900
Fax: 856.858.6832