Pat Ritchie is retiring in June from a career in education that spans five decades.
He plans to have “a perfect lawn and a perfect garden, and train for a marathon” in his free time, and drive his completely restored 1965 Ford pickup.
His leadership and passion have been on display at Walsh Jesuit since the 1970s, teaching various mathematics classes and coaching boys cross country and track and field teams.
“I don’t go to work, I go to school,” Ritchie said with a smile in a recent interview after being named the 28th recipient of the Clem Caraboolad Memorial Coach of the Year award from the Akron Beacon Journal and the Touchdown Club of Greater Akron.
Caraboolad was a teacher and coach at Walsh Jesuit and Archbishop Hoban before dying of a heart attack Jan. 29, 1988, at age 43.
“Clem was a character and a half,” Ritchie said. “He had a very dynamic personality.”
Passion for education
Grant Conzaman started at Walsh as a guidance counselor in 1973, and hired Ritchie as a coach during his time as athletic director from 1978-2013.
“When I worked at Walsh, it was so much fun to work with friends, and he is a great friend,” Conzaman said. “Pat has a great passion for coaching and teaching.”
Conzaman recalls Ritchie being an advocate for running and a guy who “loved numbers.”
“John Hasenstab and Pat Ritchie are old-school guys like John Scott and Bill Heideman [who coached at Buchtel],” Conzaman said. “They are the same type of guys, guys who put their heart and soul into their sports of cross country and track and field.”
Ritchie’s affinity toward numbers landed him a job as the Walsh boys basketball scorekeeper for about 25 years for now-retired coach Frank Lupica. Ritchie also drove the bus for Walsh basketball, swim, cross country and track and field teams.
Ritchie, 61, lives in Silver Lake with his wife of 36 years, Patty. He said he plans to continue to drive the bus for Walsh teams, and would like to be the school’s “unofficial sports archivist.” His lone child, son Porter, 25, swam at Walsh for coach Wally Lutkus.
“I was fortunate in my first three years to coach track in ’93, ’94 and ’95 with Pat before I got into administration,” Walsh Principal Mark Hassman said. “What makes Pat similar to all good coaches is that the student-athlete is more important than the wins the losses.”
Oldest of 16 kids
Ritchie is the oldest of 16 children to Rosemary and Robert Ritchie, who are now both deceased. Robert started Ritchie’s Sporting Goods in Tallmadge in 1979, a company that is presently run by Pat’s younger brothers Shawn, Josh and Nate.
When asked what it was like to grow up in a large family, Pat Ritchie said: “It was hectic, busy and loud. I could never study at home. I didn’t learn how to study until college.
“My dad was always our little league [baseball] coach and also helped coach football. I remember he did not know anything about baseball, so he had a bunch of books, and he took notes with horrendous handwriting. So when we would go to baseball practice everybody moved on every play. There was a place for you to go. If the ball is hit here, then everybody rotates and backs up a spot. That fascinated me. I loved hustling.”
Pat competed in cross country and track and field at Tallmadge High School.
“Two very influential people in my life are Ross Wormald, my cross country coach, and Paul Wachtel, my track coach,” Ritchie said. “I liked the fact that they were teachers and coaches. It hit me junior year, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach and coach.”
Ritchie lettered twice apiece in cross country and track and field before graduating from Tallmadge in 1972. He received four letters in cross country and three letters in track and field at the University of Akron before earning a bachelor’s degree in education.
“Pat is very knowledgeable about what he does, both in the classroom and on the track,” said Andy Thomas, who has known Ritchie since the 1970s. “He puts his kids first and he allows his assistant coaches to coach. I think that is one hallmark of a great head coach.”
Thomas, a 1973 Springfield graduate, was a sprinter and long jumper at UA when Ritchie was a distance runner. Thomas has worked at Walsh since 1980 as a teacher and coach.
Coming to Walsh
Ritchie did his student teaching at Walsh in the fall of 1976. He taught at Mogadore for 2½ years, and was the Wildcats’ head cross country coach for two years and an assistant track and field coach for three years. Ritchie returned to Walsh in the fall of 1979 and has been affiliated with the school since. After being an assistant, he took over the boys cross country team in 1980 and the boys track and field team in 1998.
Friend David Hunter respects how Ritchie “has positively influenced several thousand students and athletes,” including younger brothers Shannan Ritchie and Josh Ritchie when they ran on his teams at Walsh.
“I learned hard work, dedication and loyalty to the sport from coach,” said Brett Neff, a 1989 Walsh graduate who lettered three times apiece in cross country and track and field.
“Pat has provided a foundation for my life. I have known Pat for 32 years. … His role in my life is almost like a second father figure.”
Neff’s son, Kyle Neff, is a Walsh senior who will also graduate with six varsity letters.
“In the classroom, I had him as a math teacher freshman year and that helped me get on the right path with my math and I have excelled since then,” Kyle Neff said.
Paul Volpe and his son, Walsh junior Anthony Volpe, have also run for Ritchie. Paul categorizes Ritchie as “firm, but fair” with his students and athletes. Anthony values the “individual conversations” that Ritchie has with everyone, and “the pasta dinners.”
Winning at Walsh
Ritchie guided two Walsh boys cross country teams to a state championship.
The 1984 squad won the Class AAA title with a lineup of Mike Luby, Shannan Ritchie, Rick Luby, Jim Cornue, Keith Feaster, John Zawada and Shawn Killeen. The 2002 team won the Division II crown and featured Brian Reid, David Killian, Mike Spittler, Matt Mrak, Thomas Adam, Anthony Valentine and Ross Krajewski.
Ritchie also coached the Warriors’ 3,200-meter relay unit that won a Division II state title in 2006. Dan Henry, Jonathan Shepherd, Steven Testa and Tony Dipre won in 7:59.17.
Dipre, a 2006 graduate, and David Lee, a 1987 graduate, both ran for Ritchie, and are assistants that are set to take over as co-coaches in cross country in 2016.
Lee earned two letters in cross country and admires the passion Ritchie displays. Dipre, a four-year letter winner in both cross country and track and field, recalls meeting Ritchie and initially feeling a “mixture of being scared and inspired.”
“When I was a freshman, he was the one who gave me a love for running,” Dipre said.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.