To say Charlie Ruddock, who died earlier this week, was merely a coach is probably doing him a grave injustice. In the eyes of those who knew him – and considered him central to their lives – he was so much more.He was a coach, athlete, friend, mentor, storyteller, agitator ? and in all aspects, he left an indelible impression on those he encountered.”I can tell you, honestly, that as a coach ? Charlie Ruddock is one of the main reasons why I got into coaching,” says Frank Carey, a legendary baseball coach in his own right. Carey played for Ruddock at St. Mary’s – as did Lynn School Committee secretary Tom Iarrobino – and if you know both of them, you’d know that they shared a lot of similar personality traits.”He wasn’t afraid to give you the needle,” Carey said. “But in a funny, way. It was never in a mean way. And back when we were kids, we loved it. The time to worry was when Charlie wasn’t giving you the business.”As fun-loving as Ruddock was, however, Carey also said he was just as much the taskmaster as his predecessor at St. Mary’s – Nipper Clancy.”He was strict,” Carey said, “but he made it fun.”Of course, Carey – always good for a story or two – had one about Ruddock.”There used to be a pool hall in McDonough Square ? that I’d have to pass every day on my way to Barry Park for practice,” Carey said. “Sometimes, I’d go in there and shoot a couple of runs, make myself some change, maybe. Well, one day, I’m late for practice because I’m playing pool and Charlie walks in – he knew where I had been – and drags me out of there by my nose ? which is pretty big.”That left an impression me,” Carey said. “As a coach, none of my players are ever late for practice. That has a lot to do with why.”Ruddock coached some of Lynn’s all-time baseball luminaries, including Carey and Iarrobino, as well as Tony Conigliaro, Tony Nicosia and Skip Falasca. Many of them played ball at some professional level or another, and Conigliaro, of course, had a star-crossed career (and life) with the Red Sox.”We had some great success in those years with Charlie as a coach,” Iarrobino said, “and of course afterward, he was a friend for ever more.”As an athlete at Lynn English, he matched wits with the legendary Harry Agganis, especially on Thanksgiving 1946 when the Bulldogs sprung a 27-27 tie on Classical, thanks – in part – to Ruddock’s 29-yard touchdown run. At the time, the teams played before the largest-ever crowd at the old Manning Bowl.Later, he coached football at both St. Mary’ – where he ran across Carey, Iarrobino and Bill Devin Sr.”He was something else,” said Devin, whose son, Bill Jr, is the athletic director at Classical. “He was one of the most loyal guys that I knew. He taught me a lot about life.”Charlie, Mike Carr, Jim Brown ? these are the guys we all became close to, not only during our high school careers, but after. We coached with these guys, hung around with them, had our beers with them, listened to their stories, swapped some of our own ? Charlie was at the top ? one of my favorite people.”Devin Jr. knew Ruddock best as an umpire who used to call a lot of the games in the North Shore Baseball League.”He called a great game,” the younger Devin said. “I had a tremendous amount of respect for him, not only as an umpire but as a person. He always made it a point to ask me how my dad was doing, and how my family was doing.”Those who knew Ruddock accumulated stories about him that might not have been funny at the time, but grew in humor as the years passed.”One time,” Devin Sr. said, “he’s coaching football at English and they’re at Peabody. Peabody runs the opening kick back for a score, kicks off, English fumbles, and Peabody scores again. Same thing happens all over again. Peabody kicks, English fumbles, Peabody scores.”With less than a minute gone in the game, it’s 21-0, Peabody,” Devin said. “All of a sudden, there’s Charlie, running out onto the field, wanting to see the ball. So the ref gives it to him, he squeezes it a co