North Shore legend Foley remembered as passionate motivator and irreplaceable friend
Sep. 13—Bill Foley was many things in life: caring, passionate, driven, funny. But if you ask anyone who knew him well, the most frequent word used to describe him was motivating.
Foley passed away last Wednesday at the age of 70 after a brief illness, but not before he touched the lives of so many individuals here on the North Shore.
Whether he was leading one of his numerous athletic teams with aplomb, keeping his students focused and in line as an elementary school principal, or serving the town of Wenham as a reserve police officer, Foley attacked everything with a true purpose and unwavering demeanor.
"Billy was probably the best motivator of young people that I've ever met," said Foley's lifelong friend and coaching colleague, Todd Lampert. "I've never seen anyone do a better job than him; he had kids flying out of the locker room and they carried that out on to the field."
Building a legacy
Born and raised in Beverly, Foley — known to his friends as both 'Buzz' and 'Buzza' — grew up playing sports for Beverly High, Cushing Academy and eventually Salem State. One of his crowning accomplishments came shortly after his time as an athlete as Foley, then just 22 years old, established the soccer program at Beverly High in 1974.
"We were married on August 24 and we had to cut our honeymoon short by a week because he had to get home to start the program," Foley's wife Martha recalled. "He didn't have a full team yet, but turns out he comes back and Roy Norden, the football coach at the time, was a little irritated at Billy because he took some of his better players away as they decided to play soccer instead.
"He just loved coaching; it was something that came natural to him. He was a born leader," Martha added.
Despite his early squads possessing admittedly limited talent, Foley managed to instill a certain confidence and mentality in his players that quickly yielded positive results. He led the Panthers to seven state tournament appearances in nine seasons, including a trip to the championship game in 1978. He truly set the standard for what Beverly soccer still is to this day.
"He didn't have a ton of skill players, but he had players that would run through a brick wall for him," said Lampert, who spent time coaching with Foley. "That's why they were always among the top teams in the league."
"When he first started he was only a few years older than some of the seniors on the team," added Martha Foley. "He could really relate to the kids. He just loved coaching and loved competition."
Foley's coaching career only grew from there, as he soon branched out to hockey as well. He began coaching junior high hockey at the Memorial Junior High School in the Garden Ciy, going undefeated in his first season. That led to future coaching positions for the Hamilton-Wenham and Gloucester High hockey teams alongside Denny Eagan, positions he held for nearly a decade in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s.
"He just made it fun," said Eagan, who also played sports with Foley in high school. "One of my favorite stories of Buzz came from when he was the head coach at Hamilton-Wenham. Before one of their games, he drilled some holes into a hockey stick down towards the blade. Halfway through that game his team wasn't playing up to par, so Buzz snapped the stick in the locker room and everyone freaked out, thinking he was strong enough to break it.
"It's little things like that that made him so effective."
A new chapter
Beginning in 2008, Foley embarked on a steady broadcasting career for the Newburyport High hockey team. According to his booth partner Pete Kelley, Foley's first love was hockey and that passion truly shined through on the mic.
"A lot of his stuff was off the cuff," said Kelley. "He had a dry wit about him, too, and he'd often say something on the air that kept me cracking up so much that I couldn't continue talking.
"But he was always so well prepared," added Kelley. "He'd have scores from the previous night, the local schedule for the night ... he just had everything ready to go. I didn't have to do anything but show up. That's the kind of guy you want to do games with."
Between his daily superstitions — his wife says she would always get the same outfit ready for him for game days, all the way down to the socks — unique sense of humor and overall distinctive approach to the job, there was never a dull moment when Foley was on the call.
"Newburyport's (Graf) rink was one of those that were built by the state, so it was very cold," recalled Kelley. "Bill hated the cold and there was this spiral staircase going up the broadcast booth, and he would get so bundled up that he could barely make his way up the staircase. Longjohns, turtlenecks, snow jacket, scarf, wool hat ... and then he would bring three or four packs of those Hall's menthol cough drops and go through those like wildfire. I'll never forget that."
Despite his loathing of the frigid temperatures, Foley didn't let it effect his work. Just as he did in coaching, he'd always seem to come up with the right thing to say and delivered it in a way that few people could. He went above and beyond in his efforts to keep the listener involved, even setting up regular interviews between periods like it was the NHL.
All this came after Foley retired from his 19-year tenure as principal of the Centerville Elementary School in Beverly (from 1989-2008) as well as a 31-year run as a reserve officer for the Wenham Police Department (from 1985-2016), a pair of positions he also fulfilled with energy and purpose.
Foley, who will be inducted into the Beverly High School Hall of Fame next year, was a true friend, irreplaceable colleague, incredible mentor and a beloved husband and father. A true legend in every sense of the word, he leaves behind a lasting legacy and will be sorely missed by all those who knew him.
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Visiting hours for Foley will be held in the Campbell Funeral Home at 525 Cabot Street, Beverly, on Thursday, September 15 from 4-7 p.m. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. Funeral service will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Beverly Educational Fund or Wenham Police Relief Association, 140 Main Street, Wenham, MA 01984. Information, directions, condolences at www.campbellfuneral.com.
Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.
