Many believe Dick Tracy’s basketball coaching talents, which brought Whitehall High School a state championship, are legendary. But in a classroom, where he molded students as an English teacher, his influences are beyond impressive. His passing on Sept. 4 after a lengthy illness invoked countless tributes to this local man.

Just a few knew Tracy’s full name - Francis Richard Tracy - he went by Dick Tracy.

The accolades flowed Sept. 12 at Tracy’s funeral Mass at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Fullerton, where he was an active member. The Mass and eulogies by three men who were an integral part of Tracy’s life and career offered glimpses of this complex but private individual.

Father Edward Eccig, pastor at St. Elizabeth’s, said in his remarks that he saw Tracy as an “educator,” the one word he believed described him to near-perfection. The word “educator” has roots of a coach and a teacher, Eccig said, suggesting a definition of “leading out.” Tracy did “lead out” in every definition of the word, Eccig said.

Phillips Armstrong, Whitehall Township commissioner and retired Whitehall High School teacher, was a neighbor of Tracy’s for years. He spoke of memories shoveling snow side by side and the back-to-back basketball practices in the high school gym. Tracy coached the varsity boys, while Armstrong coached the girls.

“Dick came to Whitehall High School as an administrative assistant from Dieruff,” Armstrong said. “He was given attendance and discipline to handle since there were no teaching positions open, and they wanted him to coach basketball.”

When a teaching position opened, Tracy taught English.

“The kids not only respected him, but they also loved him,” Armstrong said.

Speakers Gary Laubach, Cory Frantz and Mark Mazziotti sparked memories of a special person who was more than a coach and teacher, but a friend and a mentor.

Tracy was an analyst on Twin County, today known as RCN TV Cable, for more than 30 years, many working with Laubach. Laubach said Tracy could not be described as a warm and cuddly guy, but he was fiercely loyal and well respected.

A former Marine, Tracy lived the Marine credo, semper fidelis, meaning always faithful.

Despite his superior coaching insight, Frantz said, “Dick was a technological misfit. He had no knowledge how his cable box worked.” However, Tracy’s preparation for games was superior, his notes written in pencil on reams of paper.

Frantz, a Whitehall High School assistant basketball coach, related some poignant memories about Tracy and one humorous account about Tracy’s strict mannerism to detail. When planting flowers, Frantz said, Tracy got out a ruler to make certain the flowers were spaced the same distance apart.

Mazziotti spoke about the 1982 state championship win by Tracy’s Whitehall High School basketball team.

“I can tell you that the championship they won was not [Tracy’s] greatest accomplishment,” Mazziotti said. “His greatest accomplishment was the positive influence he had on those he coached and those he taught in the classroom. The relationships he built will last forever.”

A few of the members of the 1982 state championship basketball team - Scott Coval, Glenn Noack, Mike Bobyak and Karl Heydt - sat together during the Mass.

In his closing, Mazziotti said Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way” best described Tracy, reciting several lines:

“Regrets I’ve had a few

But then again too few to mention

I did what I had to do

And saw it through without exemption

“I planned each charted course

Each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this

I did it my way.”