Life of Coach

Birth of Rich (Coach) Henry

Dec 21, 1946

Coach was born on December 21s, 1946 in Norwood. He was born into a middle class family living in Dedham. He had an Irish father and a German/Irish mother. He had an older brother and older sister.

Early years

1952

Coach went to elementary school in Dedham. The public school was in district one, a prosperous part of the town. By this time Coach's parents had split up, leaving Coach to live solely with his mother.

Family moved to the City

1953

After second grade, Coach and his family moved to West Roxbury. Here, his mother met a Swedish man named Bob Johnson. Technically this wasn't Coach's biological father, but he still called him dad because of the young age Bob joined his life. Coach spent most of his childhood life here, doing track and basketball during middle school and making friends. During this time, Coach was passionate about reading. For high school, he went to an all-boys school named Boston Technical High School.

Summer House on the Cape

1959

During middle school, Coach's parents built a house on a peninsula in Falmouth, Cape Cod. Often times, Coach's relatives would buy/rent houses around his during the summers and they would have amazing times as kids snorkeling, water skiing, fishing, and many more fun activities.

Family moves to the Suburbs

1961

Bob took over a company from Coach's mom's family so they moved to Norwood. Coach was on the track team, manager for the basketball team, and had many friends at his all-boys school so he wished to keep attending the Boston school. His parents allowed it as long as Coach was ok with the commute. So Coach took an hour commute to school every day which included taking the bus.

Getting First Job

1961

Coach started working at the young age of 15. Although he wanted to play sports like other kids, his family was grateful he was starting to work after school to bring in a little extra money into the house. He started working at a Cumberland Farms which was a good first job for him. His second job, at age 16, was working at a deli which he very much enjoyed. Coach liked the boss, the responsibility, and he learned many good working habits here.

Life Right After High School

1965

Neither of Coach's parents went to college and neither did his older siblings, but Coach knew that he wanted to. He would have to save his money so he could afford to go to college. The counseling wasn't great at his school so he ended up going to Northeastern for engineering. He ended up not liking this major so he left the school. His father got him a job at a factory which he especially had no interest in.

A New Insight

1966

While working a part-time job at a grocery store, Coach was offered to volunteer to be a basketball ref for a Christian league. He had a great time doing this and the Minister noticed this and told him at the end of the summer to consider being a teacher and working with kids. This thought hadn't crossed Coach's mind but he was instantly hooked. So Coach went out looking for a school with an education program. He picked Boston State and even took summer classes to catch up with his classmates.

First teaching job

1967

Coach got a job in Dedham where he taught math and sometimes other subjects to 6th graders. Coach noticed there was no after school sports program, so his colleague and himself set up and afterschool sports league which allowed kids to run around and have fun activities to do after school. This is when he first started to earn his "Coach" name.

Here comes the family

1968

While Coach was working at this school, he got married to Jill in 1968. One year later my mother was born. Then in 1972, they had a boy. During this, they all lived in the basement of Jill's house while Coach was saving enough money to buy a house of his own. His Swedish grandmother offered Coach an apartment in West Roxbury so they took and began their independent family life. During this time Coach was working part-time to save for a real house and taking night classes to get his masters.

Moving to Western Mass

1977

Coach took many classes about working with kids with disabilities and he even got his master's degree. Coach got a job in Lenox MA, so he bought a house and started working junior English at Lenox High where he taught students with learning disabilities. Then they moved him to elementary school learning disabilities. During this time he noticed his friend was selling a small but interesting lake house in Ashburnham MA. Coach eventually bought the house and started using it as a summer house.

Welcome to Cushing

1981

In the summer of '81, Coach got a summer job at a prep school in Ashburnham called Cushing Academy. He did so well at his job that the school asked him to stay and work full time there. He took the deal. Coach sold his house in Lenox, kept his lake house, and moved into a Cushing dorm with his family. Coach started teaching algebra and working with kids with learning disabilities. He started coaching many teams such as baseball, softball, and volleyball. See where he's getting his name?

Climbing to the Top

1991

In '91, the head of the school asked Coach to be the Dean of Faculty. He did this for the next decade along with learning how to recruit kids from other countries to come to the school. He coached many sports teams and even played some sports himself. Through this time, he even ran the summer school program.

Time for a new House

1997

Coach had sold the lake house and was only living in a dorm so in 97' he bought a summer house in Falmouth MA. After retiring many years later, this became, and still is, the house they live in.

Became a grandfather

1999

In '99, my older brother Johnny was born, making Coach a grandfather. I was his "number two," four years later in 2003. Right now (2020), Coach has 8 grandchildren.

Reconnecting with the Kids

2000

Even though Coach was around the school and coaching a few teams, being the dean made him feel a loss in connection with the kids, which is the whole reason why he picked this branch of career. He retired as dean of faculty and got his online certificate to be a college counselor.

Loving the Job

2005

In '05, Coach became the head of college counseling for Cushing. Coach was unlike any college counselor there before. Most kids who graduated Cushing only went to a few well-known, local colleges, but Coach showed high schoolers that there were so many more options for schools. He helped them find the right one for each kid. He even set up information workshops for underclassmen. During this time he used school vacations to tour school and he went to some great places along the way.

Coach Retires

2014

After working at Cushing Acadamy for 33 years, Coach finally retired. Coach's life consisted of him finding out what he truly enjoys doing in life and not just settling for a random, not interesting job. He always tells me, “find a job that you love and it doesn't feel like you’re working.” I will follow his advice and work in a profession that I truly love as well.

Starts going to Florida in the Winters

2015

Starting from 2015, Coach has been going to Florida with his wife every winter from December to April. They love going down there in the winter but they also love missing the cold up here. They are happy to come back to spring, and grandchildren when they return.

50th Anniversary

Sep 20, 2019

2018 marked Coach and Jill's 50th anniversary. From highschool prom to the current day, they have been together. They were a perfect fit from the beginning and radiate so much fun, knowledge, and love. It's no wonder how they raised such a great family, who gives the love right back to them.