SWAMPSCOTT — Frank DeFelice, a North Shore coaching giant who won almost 65 percent of his baseball games at Swampscott High School, died Tuesday morning at Salem Hospital. He was 84.
DeFelice, who coached the Big Blue from 1966-71 and 1977-2005, compiled a career record of 465-257, including a state championship in 1993 and three sectional titles. He is one of 42 coaches in the history of Massachusetts high school baseball with at least 400 wins, according to Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association (MBCA) records.
He was the head football coach at Xaverian Brothers High School (1972-76) and Swampscott High (1977-81), as well as an assistant football coach at Swampscott, four colleges and three other high schools. His last coaching position was as a baseball assistant at Endicott College, retiring in 2017 but remaining a consultant to the program until his death.
A Winthrop native and graduate of Winthrop High and Worcester Academy, DeFelice starred in football and baseball at Boston College, sandwiched around a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. He began his coaching career in 1965 as a football assistant at Christopher Columbus High School, working for his brother, Bob, who passed away last October.
DeFelice served as an assistant to Stan Bondelevitch at Swampscott High from 1966-71, a period in which the Big Blue ran off a 32-game unbeaten streak and produced three NFL players.
In 1993, DeFelice led Swampscott High to one of only two baseball state championships in school history. He was a teacher in Swampscott from 1965-71 and 1978-2000.
DeFelice was married to his wife, Susan, for 56 years. They have three children – Jim, Paul and Mary Frances Bozarjian – and six grandchildren.
The wake will be at the Solimine Funeral Home on Ocean Street, Lynn, Monday, Jan. 20, from 3-7 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John the Evangelist Church in Swampscott on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 10 a.m.
