Royal Oak Chiefs: Coach Farley
Starr Jaycee Park dedicationOn Friday, 9/24, the City of Royal Oak dedicated Starr Jaycee Park to Tom Farley.
Free Press - Tom Farley
Tom Farley: Coach gave lessons beyond football
August 25, 2003
BY SHAWN WINDSOR
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
He once had a parent present him a framed spelling test. The student had earned his first A.
It wasn't that Tom Farley had taught the boy how to spell, or that he helped him study for the test. It was that Mr. Farley, the boy's youth football coach, taught him how to live and prepare.
For 33 seasons, Mr. Farley taught boys football and life. He was about to start his 34th season with the Royal Oak Youth Football League.
Mr. Farley of Royal Oak died Thursday after a nine-month battle with cancer. He was 56.
When he learned of his pancreatic cancer, said his daughter, Tina Van Raaphorst, he kept doing what he had always been doing.
Doctors told him last Monday he had only weeks to live. He went to practice Tuesday.
"He loved to see the change in kids," Van Raaphorst said.
Through the years, he had parents tell him that after spending weekday afternoons with him in the fall their children learned to listen, to be more responsible, to take out the trash without being asked.
"He was a Marine, and some of that carried over to his coaching," his daughter said.
Mr. Farley was an electrician, too. He worked for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58. He once installed the blinking lights atop the Renaissance Center.
Mr. Farley was born in Detroit in 1946 but grew up in Oak Park. He graduated from Ferndale High School in 1965.
He joined the Marines after graduation and spent time in Vietnam. He left the military in 1968 and moved back to Michigan.
He married Patricia Genslak in 1970, moved to Royal Oak and began coaching. He and his wife also began a family.
In the off-season, he ran a clinic to train other coaches. He held practice five days a week during football months. Games were played on Sundays.
During the early years, the youth football program -- ages 7-13 -- had six teams. Eventually, there were only two.
"Soccer," said his daughter.
His teams played games against area cities like Berkley.
He went through a divorce in the mid-1980s. In 1990, Mr. Farley had a heart attack and started to change his life, his daughter said. He gave up drinking. He put much of his spare time into leather making, a craft he had learned in high school.
He made his daughter a wallet. He made friends clocks. At the end of each football season, he gave each of his players a keychain.
"He was a warm, honest man who wasn't afraid to speak his mind," his daughter said.
He received the Alliance Award from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Farley is survived by two other daughters, Robin Evans and Connie Farley; two sons, Shawn Farley and Jeffrey Farley; his mother, Lila Farley, and five grandchildren.
Visitation is from noon to 9 p.m. today at William Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, 705 W. Eleven Mile, Royal Oak. A memorial service is from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clawson Knights of Columbus Hall, 870 Main St., Clawson. A celebration of life will follow from 4 to 10 p.m. at VFW Post 9222, 3025 Coolidge, Berkley.
Daily Tribune - Tom Farley
Legacy lives on
By Jim Evans, Daily Tribune Sports Writer August 28, 2003
ROYAL OAK - How's this for an inscription on Coach Tom Farley's tombstone: I don't come into your living room. You don't come onto my practice field.
Sure there were plenty of verbal bouquets tossed Coach Farley's way at the Williams Sullivan & Son Funeral Home in Royal Oak the last couple of days. He deserved them all, too.
How many lives did he touch over the years? How many foundations did he help construct? How many young men did he teach things like teamwork, discipline, and responsibility?
Coach Farley always told parents that once practice began, they were his kids. Afterwards, they went back to mom and dad.
The legendary youth football coach logged 33 years in Royal Oak. He spent time with the Vikings, Rams and Chiefs. He died Thursday, August 21, at the age of 56. Since 1982, he was a fixture with the Chiefs. Time was when there were six youth football organizations in Royal Oak alone. In the north end, there were the Vikings, Colts and Rams. To the south were the Chargers, Jets and Packers.
Only the Chiefs and Chargers remain.
There's been attrition in the huddle. Youth football isn't as politically correct as it once was. This is an era that sometimes questions kids and contact sports. The game is too rough for some parents. Joey, let's sign up for soccer.
For Coach Farley, it was only football.
"Tom definitely mellowed in his later years. I called him a marshmallow," said Bob Miller, a longtime friend and coaching partner.
Time was when Coach Farley would sputter at a young man about a mistake at practice. He'd yell, stop for a moment, and instruct the offending youngster to run and get the coach's cane. That done, the harangue would continue with the cane dangling off the player's facemask for emphasis.
That sort of punctuation mark was reserved for practice.
"Tom would say that `Practice is for yelling. Games are for playing.' He would never yell at a player during a game. He always said that he would never do that to a player in front of his family," Miller said.
Farley was born September 18, 1946 in Detroit. He worked as an electrician for IBEW Local 58 for over 30 years. He voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and served two tours. He was an active member of Berkley VFW Post 9222.
Earlier this month, he received the Alliance award from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association during halftime of the annual East-West All-Star game at Michigan State University.
Terry Powers, the varsity coach at Royal Oak Kimball High School, nominated Farley for the award.
"Tom Farley was Mr. Chief," said Powers. "When I got the head coaching job at Kimball, Tom was the first person to congratulate me."
He was a rough, tough guy, but the kids respected the heck out of him. He demanded a lot in terms of commitment, but I can tell you what, as a high school coach I know which kids come from the Chiefs. They are well-coached, disciplined, and know a lot about football and what it takes to succeed."
Jason McNaughton, 33, is on the Chiefs' junior varsity football staff. He played for both Coach Farley and at Kimball.
"A group of us would stop by the Chiefs' practice field before our games at Kimball to talk to Coach Farley. He would spend five minute or so motivating us."
Those visits not only made the players feel good. They also did wonders for Coach Farley. There are no pay stubs coaching youth football. The IRS isn't interested in things like former players stopping by.
In recent months, Coach Farley wasn't feeling very well. Shortly after the 2002 season, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Treatments began immediately, but did little to stem the course of the disease.
Doctors recently told the coach he did not have much longer to live.
Coach Farley continued living as he always did. He went to practice at Jaycee Park. He was going to coach the varsity 2003 varsity team.
That's where he was Monday and Tuesday of last week, and even on Wednesday when he was rushed to William Beaumont Hospital, the coach kept looking at his watch. He impatiently told the nurses he had practice at 4:30.
At about 10 a.m., Thursday, Coach Farley died.
"There will never be another Tom Farley. None of us here can fill his shoes. We are just trying to continue what he started," said Clemons.
The Chiefs continue their tradition when they kick off the 2003 season against the Shelby Lions Thursday at Memorial Park. The freshman squad gets underway at 6 p.m., followed by the junior varsity and varsity games.
Prior to the start of the freshman game will be a ceremony honoring Coach Farley. The coach's own family will hand the ceremonial Royal Oak Chiefs' blanket to the captains of the varsity team.
That blanket has been around since 1982, the first year of play for the Chiefs. It symbolizes unity and team spirit. Coach Farley believed that everybody who ever played or coached in the organization is a part of the fabric of the blanket.
The bleachers will be filled tomorrow night. Countless friends, family and former players will be among the fans. Sure tears will be shed.
Forget the tissue. On Thursday night, it will be all right to dab your eyes on the blanket.
©Daily Tribune 2003