The Leahy Legacy
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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 34, Number 40 Thursday, October 11, 2018 The Leahybbyy EEdmunddmund LLawlerawle r Legacy The football coach who led Notre Dame to the most national championships was a Beacher. We’re not talking about iconic coaches like Knute Rockne or Ara Parseghian, but Frank Leahy, whose wife, Florence, and their eight children called Long Beach This inscription is a testament to Frank home in the late 1940s Leahy’s Hall of Fame coaching career. and 1950s. After putting his 1953), winning four undis- team through their puted national championships paces each day, Leahy in 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949, would depart the Gold- and a split national champion- en Dome and often ship in 1953. His teams were take the South Shore unbeaten in six of eleven years Railroad to Michigan he coached—undefeated in 39 City, en route to the straight games. Coach Frank family’s sprawling red- Leahy was inducted into the brick home on North- National Football Foundation moor Trail, atop a bluff and Hall of Fame on December at Stop 30 overlooking 8, 1970.” Lake Michigan. It was If you’re keeping score, that’s a breathtaking view fi ve national titles for Leahy, the man raised in land- which matches the combined locked Winner, S.D., national titles of Rockne (three) was said to cherish. and Parseghian (two). Leahy On Saturday, Oct. missed two years on the Notre 13, when the Fighting The Frank Leahy statue at Notre Dame Stadium. Dame sideline with his “Lads” Irish host the Pitts- when he served as a naval of- burgh Panthers, tens of thousands of fans will fi cer in the Pacifi c during World War II. stream past the statue of Frank Leahy that grac- Ryan Leahy is Coach Leahy’s grandson. Affable es the stadium’s south entrance. They should take and endowed with an infectious Irish charm, Ryan a moment to walk around the statue of Leahy on Leahy was a two-time co-captain for the Fighting bended knee and behold the inscription that re- Irish in the mid-‘90s before a brief career as an of- counts his remarkable career: “Frank Leahy coached fensive lineman in the NFL. at Notre Dame a total of 11 years (1941-1943, 1946- Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 October 11, 2018 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 %HDFKHU&RPSDQ\'LUHFWRU\ e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] 'RQDQG7RP0RQWJRPHU\ 2ZQHUV email: Classifieds - [email protected] $QGUHZ7DOODFNVRQ (GLWRU http://www.thebeacher.com/ 'UHZ:KLWH 3ULQW6DOHVPDQ PRINTE ITH Published and Printed by -DQHW%DLQHV ,QVLGH6DOHV&XVWRPHU6HUYLFH T %HFN\:LUHEDXJK 7\SHVHWWHU'HVLJQHU T A S A THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS 5DQG\.D\VHU 3UHVVPDQ 'RUD.D\VHU %LQGHU\ Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is 0LNH%RUDZVNL+RSH&RVWHOOR&KHU\O-RSSHN 3URGXFWLRQ also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. -RKQ%DLQHV.DUHQ*HKU&KULV.D\VHU'HQQLV0D\EHUU\ 'HOLYHU\ Ryan Leahy, who The Leahy Legacy Continued from Page 1 was raised in Yaki- “What’s always amazed me is that an entire class ma, Wash., has been at Notre Dame went through school without ever past the family home seeing their team lose. I don’t believe that’s ever in Long Beach many happened,” Ryan Leahy said in an interview from times with his father the trading desk of Key Bank in Chicago, where he’s Jim, who died last a municipal bond trader. He, his wife and their two year at 70. daughters live in Wilmette, a northern suburb of “I had to laugh the Chicago. fi rst time I saw the Unfortunately, Ryan Leahy did not get to know house because Dad his grandfather, who died in 1973 at 64 when Ryan always told us how Leahy was only 13 months old. But he’s certain he’s steep the hill was, inherited a great deal from his grandfather. and how hard it was “Like my grandfather, I love football, and I love to get to the top,” Notre Dame,” he says. “And even though I have Ryan Leahy said. never lived in Long Beach, it has an emotional pull Ryan Leahy was an offensive lineman Through the eyes and co-captain of the Fighting Irish in the on me just as it did for my grandfather.” of his son, the hill on mid-‘90s. Photo courtesy of Ryan Leahy Coach Frank Leahy and his wife Florence with their growing brood in the late 1940s. From left: Sue, Frank Jr., daughter Florence, Jerry and James (Ryan’s father.) Three more children came along after this photo was taken. Photo courtesy of the University of Notre Dame Archives THE October 11, 2018 Page 3 which the family home was perched looked pretty manageable. Ryan Leahy says he’s also heard the stories about %HDFK2IÀFH 0DLQ2IÀFH how Al Capone may have lived in the stately resi- 1026 N. Karwick Road 4121 Franklin St. dence, said to be designed in the shape of a gun, (219) 871-0001 (219) 874-2121 before it became the home of his grandparents in the late 1940s. 4808 E. 1000 N., LaPORTE “It may have been Capone’s henchman and suc- $349,000 cessor, Frank Nitti, who lived in the home. But it wasn’t Capone,” says Beverley Battle, who’s lived in the home since 1969 when she and her husband, Frederick “Jerry” Battle, a general surgeon at St. Anthony Hospital, bought the home. Dr. Battle died in 2016 at 84. Very secluded nature and horse lover’s dream located in Galena Township. Over 13 wooded acres overlooking a ravine and creek. This 2-story home has possible 3-4 bedrooms. Natural cedar outside and knotty pine throughout. New roof and HVAC. 4-car garage. BEVERLY SZYBALA T (219) 861-2066 (DFK2IÀFHLV ,QGHSHQGHQWO\ 2ZQHGDQG ZZZFDIÀOLDWHGFRP 2SHUDWHG The current Battle home and former Leahy home on Northmoor Trail. Mobsters in Long Beach? That story will have to wait for a later issue to keep the focus here on the coach known as “The Master” and not the “Goodfel- Themes in Bob Dylan’s Songs las” out of Chicago. After completing his surgical residency at the A Lecture and Performance Mayo Clinic, Dr. Battle and his wife moved from by Howard Mirowitz Winnipeg, Canada, to Long Beach to launch his medical career and raise their four children. Dr. Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan’s heritage is reflected in many of his lyrics. Battle was of Irish descent and passionate about Throughout his career, Dylan has used references to Jewish literature & customs Notre Dame and its football team. to address a broad range of topics, including the conflict between the individual & society, social justice, war & peace, hypocrisy, religion & salvation, identity & “That’s one of the big reasons we moved here,” love. Incorporating performances of selected songs from Dylan’s vast catalogue, Mrs. Battle says. “Jerry wanted to be close to Notre Howard Mirowitz of the University of California-Irvine, will illus- trate how Dylan incorporates these themes to create the iconic Dame.” allusional references that characterize his works. They became season ticketsholders — 50-yard- line, sixth row. Little did they know how close they’d Saturday, October 20, 2018 be living to the heart of Fighting Irish lore. 2:00 pm The Battles did not buy the home from the Lea- Sinai Temple hys, but from the Huckstep family, which lived in 2800 Franklin Street the home for several years. The Battles, however, Michigan City, IN 46360 did inherit a set of lockers in the garage they sus- 219-874-4477 pect may have been left behind by Coach Leahy. There are two other fascinating Leahy-Battle Admission: $10. connections. Several years ago, at the University Tickets sold exclusively with charge cards, on sale by calling Sinai Temple office Monday - Friday, October 1st-18th, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm of Illinois, the Battles’ granddaughter, Maddy Bat- Note: A Playbill with song album & lyrics will be tle, was a sorority sister and roommate of Maddie each guest’s ticket into the sanctuary. Moustakas, the granddaughter of Coach Leahy’s oldest daughter, Sue. When guests pay, we will send a confirming Email. “It took them a long time to realize that their At the event, “Will Call” box office will have listing of paid guests. Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 October 11, 2018 grandfather.’ People would then tell me they knew The Leahy Legacy Continued from Page 3 one of my aunts or uncles who grew up in Long Beach. And they’d then tell me that they had stayed grandparents had lived in the same house, but at at one time or another in my grandparents’ large different times,” Mrs. Battle says. basement.” And it was at the Mayo Clinic, where Dr. Battle He says the course is where his grandfather would be a resident some 20 years later, that Coach learned the game under the watchful eye of George Leahy’s career was launched. As the story goes, Thomas, a club golf pro and Notre Dame’s golf coach. Leahy was invited by Knute Rockne to accompany Growing up in one of Notre Dame’s royal families him to the clinic in Rochester, Minn., at the end of has its pluses and minuses, Ryan Leahy says. the 1930 national championship season, the team’s second consecutive title.