emerged from the Great Blackout of
1965, darkness descended again on
St. Bonaventure. Kevin McNamee
knew the day was inevitable. For as
'76, understood how fragile life was. His dad
earned a Purple Heart in World War II, but the
price was a shredded heart, ravaged by Ger-
mans and stitched together by the French,
whose efforts gave him 10 more years than
anyone thought possible.
ing up, and he'd be waving out a window to
us after recovering from his latest heart
episode," said McNamee, now in his 20th year
as deputy athletic director at George Mason.
never come. And then, one day, I came home
from school ... "
home. The founder of St. Bonaventure's phys
ed department and men's swim program was
just 47. He didn't have enough days, but he
never cheated the ones he was given.
lentless in living life," said Kevin, whose Twit-
ter avatar is a sepia-toned photo from the
early '50s of his dad with SBU's swim team.
"He had an unbelievable drive and resilience
to living a normal life."
finally gave out. She was even taking an edu-
cation class from him that fall semester.
member every heart attack he had after
that. It was a difficult scenario to deal
with as a child," said Pat, her voice
breaking up. "It's emotional for me to
talk about even now. It was horrible."
istence, Pat and Kevin also cherish great
memories of their dad, as do older
brother Jack and younger brother Brian,
class of '78. They are numbers one
through four in a five-kid clan.
ries of him. Sean McNamee is 50. His fa-
ther died 49 years ago.
1978 to 1992. "The remarkable thing
about Sean is that he has every trait,
every attribute of dad."
"Sean enjoys life, has a similar sense
always been great with students," Tem-
pesta said. "My father was the same
way."
established a culture of
discipline and accounta-
bility that made St.
Bonaventure a respected
program in the North-
east. ABOVE: