Students, athletes and friends mourn the loss of Fremd's Bokor

Rich Bokor spent the majority of his life helping kids get the most out of their lives.

Whether it was in an advanced placement history class at Fremd, on a cross country course or in a track workout, Bokor's goal was to inspire and drive his students and athletes toward success that would last a lifetime.

So, nothing changed for Bokor when he received a life-altering diagnosis of incurable colon cancer in September. The same philosophies he used for years to help others - even after retiring from teaching and coaching at Fremd in 2003 - would be followed to help himself in his greatest challenge.

"All the stuff he coached and preached in coaching and the classroom ... he practiced what he preached," said close friend and Fremd boys track coach Jim Aikens.

"He always had that same philosophy," said retired Fremd teacher and baseball coach Mike Loring, who was also one of Bokor's closest friends. "Here's an issue and I'm going to attack it head on and fight through it."

Bokor's fight ended Sunday at age 66. It was definitely much too soon for someone who still had plenty to give to others.

However, the outpouring of support after his passing and after he told people he had cancer showed just how much he gave of himself. That will surely be evident during the visitation from 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday at Smith-Corcoran Funeral Home on Northwest Highway in Palatine and at Saturday's visitation at 11 a.m. and funeral mass at noon at Holy Family Catholic Church in Inverness.

"When he first posted on Facebook that he had Stage Four (cancer), there were a lot of comments right away," Loring said. "He said it was really rewarding to see the impact he made one some of these people. It seemed to pick him up at that point."

Which is not surprising considering the thousands of people Bokor lifted to greater heights during his life in education. Bokor earned an Illinois teacher of the year award and was inducted last year into Fremd's Wall of Honor for a success-filled coaching career that included a third-place finish in the 1994 Class AA boys state cross country meet.

"He had that knack of getting the best out of people," Aikens said. "He got the best out of me as a coach and got the best out of kids."

Bokor also had the vision in 1989 to see he had the perfect successor to run the boys track program in Aikens. Bokor, who was inducted into the DePaul University Hall of Fame in 2001 and set the school record for the indoor 600-yard dash, and former football coach and longtime track assistant Joe Samojedny took their support of Aikens to then-principal Tom Howard.

"Rich said, 'Why don't you go for it?'" Aikens said. "I had never thought of myself as a head coach.

"Rich taught me everything I know in track and field. He's forgotten more than I know."

Aikens said he initially brought a football mentality to coaching track that wasn't totally successful. Bokor, who stayed on as a boys track assistant until 2003, was able to set Aikens straight.

"We had a few heated discussions," Aikens said with a laugh. "He was a phenomenal teacher. His philosophy was if you're a coach, you're an educator. You're just educating something different."

Loring taught AP math at Fremd and said the respect Bokor was evident in the building.

"You would hear student comments about other teachers and he was one of the most highly-respected teachers at the school," Loring said. "I never heard a student say a bad word about him."

That's not to say that Bokor made it easy on his students or athletes. If there was a plan in place it was to be followed.

"When he did give kids praise they soaked it up," Aikens said. "He was demanding but good. You always knew where you stood with Rich."

Aikens marveled at Bokor's ability to keep track of the scores of a Mid-Suburban League track meet in his head. Loring and Aikens said Bokor also had incredible recall of former students and athletes and what they were doing when he ran into them.

Bokor stayed active in retirement by serving on the District 15 school boards and mentoring student-teachers at National-Louis University.

"He was always trying to help kids in one way or another," said Loring, who would go to Cubs and Notre Dame football games with Bokor. "He was always trying to help people in education, whether they were teachers or students."

"He was just a great friend," Aikens said. "He's going to be missed."

• Marty Maciaszek is a freelance columnist for the Daily Herald who can be reached at marty.maciaszek@gmail.com.