Richard Bernhart, 75, legendary high school basketball coach

IT WAS a love fest from start to finish.

Many former Monsignor Bonner High School basketball players, students and friends turned out Dec. 16 to pay homage to longtime Bonner basketball coach, Richard A. "Dick" Bernhart, on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

The party was held in McGillicuddy's restaurant, in Upper Darby, and Dick was driven there from his home in Frostburg, Md., by a young friend, Taylor Betts.

Three days later, Dick Bernhart was dead.

He died in his home in Frostburg of natural causes, no doubt with the many accolades he heard at the party still ringing in his ears.

Dick's career at Bonner, the Drexel Hill Catholic high school that's now Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast High, began in 1969, when he was named freshman basketball coach.

He became head coach in 1970 and led the Friars until 1975.

He spent 1984 as assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University and returned to Bonner the next year as head coach. In 1988 he was made athletic director, and he retired in 1997.

He compiled a 61-33 Catholic League record in his two stints as head coach, and holds the highest winning percentage of any program coach in Bonner's history.

Dick also was dean of boys for a time at Bonner. He was camp director of Bill Foster's and Harry Litwack's Pocono Mountain Basketball Camp in the late 1960s through the 1970s.

Dick Bernhart never married and had no children. Bonner was his family and basketball his love.

"He lived and breathed basketball," said longtime friend Wallace Rutecki. "Dick was a sports junkie, but, more specifically, a basketball junkie. He followed all levels of basketball. He was a selfless individual who only cared about the development of his high-school students."

He was a mentor to many, becoming involved whenever he saw someone that he felt he could help to realize his potential.

That included Taylor Letts, the young man who drove him the four hours to his party, which Taylor helped organize. Taylor was a sophomore at Frostburg State University, struggling to make the tuition. Dick hired him to do landscaping and maintenance work around his property.

Dick became close to Stephanie Gaitley and her husband, Frank, who looked after him. He mentored Stephanie, a former St. Joe's women's basketball coach who now coaches Fordham, through her coaching career.

He would break down game film for her and consulted her on strategy and player development.

He also mentored Geoff Petrie, former Portland Trail Blazers player and now president of basketball operations for the Sacramento Kings. Dick first took an interest in Geoff's career when Geoff was a student at Springfield High School, in Delaware County.

Dick was known for long telephone conversations with his friends.

"He enjoyed calling former players and students just to check in and keep up on what was happening in their lives," Wallace Rutecki said. "He liked to talk about his favorite basketball coaches, Bob Knight, formerly with Indiana University, and Bo Ryan, now with Wisconsin, as well as his favorite teams to watch, Gonzaga and Butler."

Dick grew up in Lansdowne, Delaware County, and graduated from Lansdowne High School. He got his education degree at West Chester University. He began his basketball-coaching career at Swarthmore High School, and from there went to Bonner.

Services: Memorial service 6:30 p.m. Monday at Bonner/Prendergast High School auditorium, Lansdowne Avenue and Garrett Road, Drexel Hill.