Photos Courtesy of SFHS Archives
Coach Lynn poses with his tennis players.
Whether you knew him as a coach, crossing guard, or simply a friendly face on campus, every Lancer has crossed paths with Coach Lynn Horiye. After serving Saint Francis as an educator for 39 years, he finally retired at the end of the last school year. His passing now marks a profound loss for the entire school community, who cherished him deeply. On January 24, a service was held for Coach Lynn and more than a hundred past and present administrators, teachers, coaches, and students came to pay their respects. Many moving stories were shared by Lynn’s family, past athletes, and colleagues, and by the end of the service there was not a dry eye in Burns gym.
During his time at Saint Francis, Coach Lynn took on many roles, which include, but are not limited to, substitute teaching, being a prefect, helping in the Deans and Attendance Office, coaching multiple sports, and keeping stats. The way that he went about ordinary things was what made Coach Lynn so extraordinary. Mr. Steven Smith, World and US history teacher, was a close friend and colleague of Coach Lynn: “I called him an Honorary Holy Cross Brother. The key is that he did things in a humble way.” The compassion that Lynn exuded as he helped out at lunch duty or the crosswalk on Miramonte Avenue is a model for the Holy Cross mission of serving with the heart and mind. “He modeled what Saint Francis is all about, whether he knew he was doing it or not, I just think he did things the right way,” said math teacher Mr. Michael DeCarlo.
Everyone knew Lynn Horiye as “Coach Lynn”—regardless of whether or not he actually coached them—and for good reason. In girls’ gymnastics, he is the winningest coach in CCS and Saint Francis history, winning twenty titles in total and 16 consecutively between 2000 and 2015. His extremely successful coaching philosophy centered around creating not just strong athletes, but a strong team bond. Ms. Lisa Butler, Associate Campus Minister and Spanish teacher, coached the girls’ gymnastics team alongside him for a number of years and shared her perspective: “One thing that stands out is that no matter if you were like the top all-around gymnast on varsity, or if you were just starting out and you did vaults on JV, he made you feel like you were the most important person on the team.”
Coach Lynn also led many girls’ tennis players to success, coaching the varsity team for two decades. Beloved freshman English teacher and alumna, Ms. Andrea Joslyn, developed a close bond with him during her time on the Varsity tennis team. “I just remember him letting us have a lot of fun. He was a great coach, but he would also let us be really silly and awkward,” said Ms. Joslyn. Ms. Joslyn and Coach Lynn kept in touch after she graduated through dinners at the Cheesecake Factory. In her senior year of college, he recommended that she work at Saint Francis Summer School. Because of that summer job, Ms. Joslyn is now in her sixth year of teaching full time here. She says that Coach Lynn made a huge impact on her teaching philosophy: “He would ask so many specific things about students’ lives, which is really how I try to be with my students. There’s so many of them, but I tell myself that if he could do it, so can I.”
Above all his championships and accolades, Coach Lynn’s real impact was made in the thousands of personal connections he made with students, educators, and administrators. “I would sometimes forget people, and I would go to him to remind myself,” Mr. DeCarlo said. “He could recall the kid’s name, where they sat at lunch, who they sat with, what activities, and he even knew what colleges they went to. Just an unbelievable memory, and it was all from talking to the kids.”
Saint Francis students cared for Coach Lynn deeply. For decades, Coach Lynn biked to school every day and one year, after his bike was stolen, a group of students chipped in to buy him a new one: “He was blown away that students would do that for him. He didn’t understand what he meant to students until something like that happened,” said Mr. DeCarlo.
Coach Lynn may have been a humble man, but the impact he made on our school is one that deserves to be celebrated. His kind spirit will live on in all the people on campus who were changed by the love he showed them. Thank you, Coach Lynn!