Margaret Ann “Marge” Deegan Coach Jim Deegan with the sprint medley relay team after winning the 1977 Penn Relays Crown. From left: Coach Deegan, Mark Martin, C’78, Tom Delmoor, C’79, Barry Stebbins, C’77, and Ron Banks, C’77.
Coach Deegan at the 2012 NEC Championships at the Mount.
Jim Deegan Lived Significantly
MARGE DEEGAN passed away peacefully on Oct. 7, 2020, exactly one month before her beloved husband of 65 years, Jim. She was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of the late Albert and Anna Wetzel. A graduate of West Chester University with a bachelor’s degree in teaching, Marge was a substitute teacher at Mother Seton School and Hoover Elementary School. Marge held a special place in the hearts of many and she truly loved being a part of the Mount’s community of professors, students, and alumni. During basketball season, you could often find her and Coach at many of the games. Marge enjoyed playing cards at the Seton senior center and loved her time at the beach.
1933-2020 HAVE YOU HEARD THE STORY ABOUT COACH JIM DEEGAN building a landing pit with the help of pole vaulter John Rooney, C’60, and other improvisations the young coach made from the time he arrived as track and field, cross country and soccer coach at Mount St. Mary’s in 1956 until a track was built in 1963? How about the one about how Norwegian recruit and Olympian Trond Skramstad, C’83, won both Division I and Division II decathlon titles in a span of 10 days in 1982? Coach Deegan loved to tell stories from his 50-year legendary career, and the thousands of student-athletes whom he helped form into remarkable human beings loved to listen, no matter how many times they may have heard them. He often shared the story of watching Peter Rono, C’92, win Olympic gold in the 1500m in 1988, but a lesser known tale may reveal more about Deegan as a person. When Rono was in danger of failing accounting, a subject that he struggled to grasp,
By the Numbers 1 Olympic champion (Peter Rono, gold medalist in 1,500 meter run at 1988 Olympics) 7 All-Americans in men’s soccer 11 Olympians in 16 track & field events (6 representatives at 1988 Olympics) 25 NCAA track & field champions (5 in 1987 alone) 78 All-Americans in track and field (16 in 1987 alone)
FALL 2020 CLASS NOTES
61
