Obituary: James R. Damp Jr. / Head coach of the Fox Chapel Area High School hockey team
Share with others:
James R. Damp Jr., the head coach of the Fox Chapel Area High School hockey team, died Friday of a heart attack while training with his players. He was 50.
Mr. Damp, of Penn Hills, was the head coach at Fox Chapel for the past four seasons and had previously coached at Franklin Regional, North Allegheny and Woodland Hills.
When word of his passing spread through the Fox Chapel and Penn Hills communities, it shocked his current and former players.
"I'm not going to lie. I was in tears," said Andrew McCoy of Fox Chapel, who played for Mr. Damp the past four years. "The thing about him was he was such a passionate man. He was so good to me. I was voted the captain before my senior season, and I was nervous. He said, 'Don't worry. I'll teach you how to be a leader.'
"I feel so fortunate to know him and for him to be my mentor. He touched so many kids' lives. He passed on his hockey knowledge to a new generation."
Patrick Damp, of Penn Hills, said his father was doing off-ice training with his players at Dorseyville Middle School in Indiana Township Friday night when he became ill. It was a surprise to all who knew him because he kept himself in shape and worked out on an almost daily basis.
"We were all saying how we were glad that it happened there when he was coaching his team, doing something he loved," his son said. "He passed away doing something he truly loved."
In addition to his high school coaching duties in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League, Mr. Damp also coached the Allegheny Badgers amateur team for the past 12 years. Patrick played for his father on that team from the time he was 6 years old.
"He didn't just coach hockey," Patrick said. "He taught us how to be respectable young men."
When he wasn't coaching youth hockey, Mr. Damp's other job was as a writer. He most recently worked for the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries as a technical writer. He previously worked as a freelance writer whose work frequently appeared in the Post-Gazette in the 1980s.
In addition to his son, Mr. Damp is survived by his wife, Beth; a daughter, Sarah; his parents, James R. Sr. and Helen; and a brother, Michael, all of Penn Hills; another brother, Dennis of Center, Beaver County; and a sister, Amy Leitgeb of Indianapolis.
Visitation will be at William F. Gross Funeral Home in Penn Hills from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. Susanna Church, 202 Stotler Road, Penn Hills.
First Published August 18, 2009 12:00 am
