The Mold

Eddie Jeremiah '30

Men's Hockey (1937-1967)

Eddie Jeremiah was like a father to me. In the basement of the Davis Varsity House there are pictures of all his hockey and baseball teams and pictures of each of his captains. On my picture, his inscription calls me a "faithful son and that he was "grateful to hockey for bringing us together. I ended up being his last captain. He had cancer, and by my senior year he had slowed up quite a bit. Irv Fountain, who was our trainer, and I kind of nursed him through his final season. I spent a lot of time with him. He confided in me. It was a very tough year for him. He still had a great sense of humor was always good for a laugh but he had his ups and downs. Some of the other players didn't like him. Jerry was an old-style coach. He was as interested in the kid as he was about winning or losing. He stayed on top of us to keep our grades up. He made us do wind sprints over and over if we weren't getting something right. Some of the kids coming through then had different ideas, and there were more than a few prima donnas. Especially toward the end, Jerry didn't have a lot of time for that.

At the end of our hockey season my senior year, there was a huge testimonial for Jerry in Alumni Hall. People came from all over the country. A lot of hockey coaches and a lot of his players came. The great Riley Rondeau Harrison line of 1942-43 was there, Dick Desmond '49 and Gordie Russell '55 the goaltenders, his best teams. Just by the overwhelming turnoutyou could tell he'd had a very tight relationship with a lot of his players. A lot of them had the same respect for him that I did. Even today, I run into those guys and we have a common bond—more Jeremiah than Dartmouth.

He died a week before we graduated. I spoke at his funeral at Rollins Chapel. It was packed, too. I'm sorry that I never had the chance to knowjerry after I graduated, but he's always been a part of my life. I've got a picture of him here on my wall.

I wish I could share with him my experiences in Vietnam, teaching, coaching, business, and my family. I have used a lot of lessons from Jerry, on and off Davis Rink, all my life. Did I style any of my coaching after Eddie Jeremiah? Well, they broke the Jeremiah mold, but I pass his tips along all the time. And certainly with my players. I always had relationships with my players. I knew how important that had been for me. I knew how important that could be.