Carmel to grips with Joe Scordino's passing

Having never married, Joe Scordino didn't have any kids of his own.

And yet, kids were the center of his life, and dozens upon dozens of kids felt nearly as close to him as their own fathers.

Scordino was like a beloved family member during his three-plus decades as a wrestling coach and teacher at Carmel Catholic High School. And that has made saying goodbye all the more difficult for a tight-knit community that is still in shock and mourning.

The popular Scordino, who had coached the wrestling team for 34 years, including this past season until deteriorating health forced him to step aside in January, died Friday at the age of 61.

"Joe's lasting legacy," said Carmel athletic director Andy Bitto, "is his true love for kids."

Scordino had been diagnosed years ago with diabetes, which led to emphysema. For the last year, he had been forced to carry an oxygen tank with him everywhere and labored just to walk across school.

About a month ago, Scordino had officially relinquished his coaching duties, but he continued to teach business at the school and carried on his normal routine as recently as Thursday. When Scordino failed to show up for his classes on Friday, school officials became concerned.

Scordino was found dead in his Gurnee area home later that day and students at Carmel were immediately informed of the news.

"We told the wrestlers on Friday, 'You were his kids,' " said Carmel wrestling coach Bob Kuykendall, who had been Scordino's assistant coach for 26 years and was named the new head coach last month. "The reason he fought through all of the difficulty with his health over the last few months wasn't to come to a building, it was to come to be with people, the kids.

"He's touched so many lives in all the time he's been here, not only as a coach but a teacher. I think a lot of people here have been hit hard. The word I've used is beloved. He became a guy who was beloved by the community, especially the wrestlers. He was part of their lives."

Scordino, who grew up eating, breathing and sleeping the discipline of wrestling, eventually wrestled at St. Ambrose College. His approach to coaching was the same as it was on the mat: No nonsense.

That approach got him 407 career victories and induction into the Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame, the Illinois Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame and the East Suburban Catholic Conference Hall of Fame.

"Joe was a guy who it was just black and white with him," Kuykendall said. "He told you what he felt, he gave you an honest appraisal.

"And he always wanted guys giving 100 percent. That's what mattered to Joe, not who was a state place winner or a sub-.500 wrestler. He pushed everyone to get them to realize that they could be something more.

"I think that's what a lot of guys will remember most about him."

Kuykendall will remember a loyal friend and a generous mentor. He and Scordino had been through all kinds of peaks and valleys in their 26 years of coaching at Carmel together.

"We had been together for so long that we kind of knew what the other was thinking. We were like a married couple," Kuykendall chuckled. "But Joe was also very much like a father to me. He taught me a lot, he mentored me and always made sure that I was learning the right way to do things.

"That's what I'm always going to remember."

Memories of Scordino have been shared all over school, and all over the world, since news of his death broke.

"It's amazing how quickly news spreads in this day of technology," Kuykendall said. "I was told that on Facebook, there was already a group dedicated to him.

"When I got home Friday, I had eight phone calls waiting. Joe was a fixture here for 30 years and it shows."

Bitto says funeral arrangements for Scordino are still pending and that a memorial service at Carmel will also likely take place in the coming days.