When Michael Wantz was hired as the Roncalli boys’ basketball coach in May of 2002, he kept hearing one thing over and over.
“You need to get Pat to help you out.”
Pat, Wantz soon learned, was Pat Crosley. He was a teacher in the school and had been helping previous coach Dave Gervasio prior to Wantz taking the job. But as Wantz quickly realized, labels like “teacher” and “coach” hardly summed up Crosley.
“The most selfless servant leader,” Wantz said, his voice cracking when describing Crosley’s impact. “Sometimes it seems like hyperbole when you hear people talk about someone who just passed away. But Pat was that person. Everything you hear about Pat Crosley is true times ten. It’s a big loss for Roncalli. He literally died serving others.”
Crosley, 58, died Friday while serving as a leader on the Roncalli Senior Christian Awakening Retreat at Camp Allendale in Trafalgar. He is survived by his wife of more than 30 years, Lori, adult daughters Molly and Betsy, both Roncalli graduates, his father Sherman, sister Traci Beck, and many other family members. He was preceded in death by his mother, Kathleen.
Many of Crosley’s students at Roncalli, past and present, consider him family. After a brief stint at St. Jude Catholic School, he started out teaching religion at Roncalli, then transitioned into theology, history and U.S. government for almost 30 years at his alma mater. He worked more than 30 Christian Awakening Retreats for Roncalli seniors.
In a podcast interview with Roncalli director of alumni and corporate relations Gary Armbruster in 2019, Crosley described the times when students would come back and tell him they enjoyed his classes.
“Every once in a while it happens,” Crosley said. “And it’s validating, for sure. To hear kids say they liked my class … what did you learn? ‘I don’t remember.’ But they liked being in the classroom and that’s the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to be is a teacher, for better or worse, that you wanted to be in the room with.”
Crosley, a 1987 Roncalli graduate, loved history. During a recent dinner with his longtime radio broadcast partner Rob Brown at Roncalli, he described how he would stop at cemeteries if they were on his route and look to see if any of the gravestones were from the Civil War era, then go home and try to research more about their lives.
But there was more than one side to Crosley.
“His friends all kind of joke that how does a guy with all of this intelligence and so many interests have Miller High Life as his favorite beer?” Brown said. “But that’s what he was. He could talk in-depth about historical subjects and then turn around and sit in somebody’s garage and talk about the 1978 (Indy) 500. He was just a great dude. He had a curious mind. You don’t encounter a lot of people like that.”
Crosley, a loyal IU football fan who attended the national championship game in Miami with his wife Lori, was an assistant on the Roncalli basketball coaching staff for 17 years. That included 13 years on Wantz’s staff, a tenure that included four sectional titles and a Class 3A regional title in 2004-05.
“I always enjoyed when it was my scout and we figured something out and stopped (the opponent) from doing it,” Crosley said on the podcast interview with Armbruster in 2019. “That always made me feel like we were locked in. Michael is one of the best preparation coaches you are ever going to see … when I felt like I had a piece to that, it was gratifying.”
Crosley also recounted his favorite memories of the old “Woodshed” gym at Roncalli, including a win over Yogi Ferrell and Park Tudor. Crosley got out of coaching when his oldest daughter Molly was entering high school but kept his hand in the athletic world as a frequent broadcast partner of Brown’s in several sports, including basketball.
“He was the perfect guy who have next to me because I could make pop culture references that he would understand,” Brown said. “And his wit was so sharp – he way was smarter than me – that I had to be ready. It was like a tennis match. He would return the volley faster than I would hit it over the net. We had the best time. You couldn’t do that as much during the faster pace of basketball, but the slower paced sports you could tell stories and elaborate a little more. There was more time to laugh and let things go a little bit.”
Crosley was honored last year as the Class 4A football Champion of Education award when Roncalli reached the 4A state finals. He was the public address announcer for several sports, including football, for more than 20 years. Crosley was awarded a Lilly Educator’s Grant and was able to travel Europe, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who fought in World War II.
Crosley, godfather to Wantz’s son Eli, remained close with Wantz, who became assistant principal for student life after he got out of coaching in 2022. “I think why students loved him so much was his sincerity,” Wantz said.
“I don’t think I ever saw Pat without a grin on his face,” Brown said. “Every text exchange always ended with, ‘thanks pal.’ If he ever had a bad day, he didn’t show it.”
Visitation will be Thursday from 5-9 p.m. in the Roncalli gym. Mass will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the gym with one hour of visitation prior to the start of mass. Burial will take place immediately following at Calvary Cemetery in Indianapolis.
“Pat will be remembered for an amazing head of hair, his love of the champagne of beers, Miller High Life, bowties, dad jokes, his servant’s heart, and above all, his love of Lori, Molly, and Betsy,” his obituary read.
Near the end of his podcast interview with Armbruster, Crosley talked about the Richmond Hill explosion in 2012. The Crosleys lost their home, located two houses down from the blast, and most of their belongings. He was at the St. Jude Reverse Raffle when the explosion happened with his wife. Almost immediately, the phone calls started pouring in from the Roncalli community.
“The outpouring of love and everything, to me, made me so happy that I had gotten a job here as part of my career and was able to bring my daughters here,” Crosley said. “That kind of love, that kind of support, that kind of help – I’m sure other communities would do that, I know they would – but I think it was so overwhelming for us.
“Those months afterward were tough, but it was a heck of a lot easier because of all the support, love and helping hands we got from people. People I’ve never met before calling us and giving us support. That meant so much to me and our family … that’s one of the things I’m most proud about our school and community is how we stick together.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘Selfless servant leader.’ Pat Crosley’s impact at Roncalli went beyond labels
