Naperville Central's Lawler loses battle with cancer

On an overcast Saturday morning at Naperville Central's varsity baseball field, the banner honoring Phil Lawler's retired jersey number fluttered with a tinge of sadness.

The Redhawks' hall-of-fame pitching coach, a man devoted to his family and dedicated to worldwide children's fitness, passed away late Friday night following a long bout with cancer. Lawler was 60 years old.

"His status in this program and in this community kind of goes without saying," said Redhawks head baseball coach Bill Seiple, who coached side by side with Lawler since 1982 at Naperville Central, an era that included a Class AA championship in 2006.

"It's such a tragic loss, it happened too soon," Seiple said. "What an example of courage, fighting cancer five times ... battling to the end."

Lawler, inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame in 1997, is survived by an extensive list of family and friends including Denise, his wife of 36 years, sons Scott and Todd, and their daughter, Kim.

A physical education teacher for 30 years at Madison Junior High in Naperville, Lawler dedicated the years following his retirement in 2004 to working with PE4life, a not-for-profit organization that develops fitness programs for children.

Lawler became internationally known for his work with PE4life and even appeared in "Super Size Me," a 2004 film that earned a Best Documentary Academy Award nomination.

"The thing about Phil is that it was always kids first," said Jim Fornaciari, a former baseball coach at Glenbard West who coached with Lawler from 1988-1999 as an assistant at Naperville Central. "There's a way to play the game and a way to wear the uniform, and I always thought Phil was the best at that."

Lawler, who graduated from a high school class of 38 in Wall Lake, Iowa, was considered one of the top prep pitching coaches in Illinois. He gained much of his knowledge from his brother Jim, a longtime college coach, and passed on that knowledge to his son, Scott, who is an associate head coach at the University of Notre Dame.

"I learned a lot from him, not only about baseball but just about life in general," said York head coach Dave Kalal, a Naperville Central assistant from 2000 to 2007. "That's the same thing he tried teaching to the students and athletes that he came across. He was a teacher. No matter what he was doing, he was a teacher."

In 2009 the IHSBCA board of directors named its summer tournament the Phil Lawler Classic to honor the man who was instrumental in keeping the event vibrant.

"He was as good of an ambassador for Illinois high school baseball as anyone ever has been," said Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake, who was president of the IHSBCA last year and spearheaded the effort to name the tournament after Lawler. "He was just a great, great man who will be sorely missed by so many people."