Whether coaching hockey at Masconomet Regional High School, directing his summer hockey school in Peabody, or teaching at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School, Bob Driscoll’s optimism never waned.
“Success is getting up one more time than you fall down’’ was among his favorite expressions.
“He was a kind man with a huge well of patience and an immense positivity that shaped his perspective on sports and life,’’ said his son Bob Jr. of Scottsdale, Ariz.
From 1972 through 2004, when Mr. Driscoll retired as a teacher and coach, Masconomet’s hockey team advanced to the post-season 17 times and won three Cape Ann League championships. In 2008, he was inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Mr. Driscoll, who retired last year from the Peabody City Council, on which he served two terms as president, died of a heart attack April 24 while playing hockey at the Massachusetts Senior Games in Worcester. He was 69 and had lived in Peabody since 1974.
During his 28-year City Council tenure, Mr. Driscoll represented Ward 4 and was the longest-serving member in council history, said Peabody’s mayor, Ted Bettencourt, who considered him a mentor.
“Bob touched many lives around the city,’’ Bettencourt said.
“When I was a councilor, I would always talk with him about an issue or before a crucial vote because he spoke from the heart.’’
At Northeast Regional in Wakefield, where his brother John was a longtime football coach and athletic director, Mr. Driscoll taught history, social studies, and psychology, and coached cross-country and outdoor track. He founded the Cape Ann Hockey School 38 years ago.
“He was always on the go and always had a smile on his face,’’ said his brother, a Lynnfield resident who is in the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. “The way his students identified with him was like osmosis.’’
Mr. Driscoll, a graduate of St. Mary’s High School of Lynn, transferred from Providence College after his freshman year to the former St. Dunstan’s University on Prince Edward Island. He joined his brother on the college football team and was a cornerback and captain.
During his senior year, Mr. Driscoll met Sally Bergasse, a field hockey and basketball player at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They married in 1970.
Mr. Driscoll graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in history and received a master’s in education from what is now Salem State University.
He began his teaching career at Lawrence High School and was an assistant football coach. His wife briefly taught physical education at Masconomet, which is in Boxford. “We ran through life with reckless abandon, but we always found time for dinner as a family every night,’’ she said.
She recalled buying a large calendar and color coding it so they could attend their children’s numerous sporting events. All 10 of their children played varsity sports in high school and college.
Hosting the Masconomet team at their home for film sessions and pasta dinners, running the summer hockey school, and campaigning for City Council were family affairs.
“If you could manage 10 children, then you could manage just about everything,’’ said Mr. Driscoll’s brother David of Salem, who in recent years played hockey three mornings a week with Mr. Driscoll and their brother Daniel of Lynn at Hockeytown USA in Saugus.
They were often joined by former Northeastern University star Bill Seabury, who played on the Moby Dicks squad with Mr. Driscoll at the Senior Games last month.
“Bobby used to bring books to the locker room on subjects he felt we would enjoy, from sports to history. He was always doing things for people,’’ recalled Seabury, a former baseball and hockey coach at Stoneham High School.
Andrew Jackson, a two-time hockey captain at Masconomet and its current head coach, is on the Cape Ann Hockey School staff.
“I had never skated as hard as during my first practice as a ninth-grader for coach, who nicknamed me ‘Old Hickory,’ ’’ Jackson recalled. “He and Sally opened up their home to us and I’ve followed his lead in combining discipline with having fun.’’
Mr. Driscoll established his hockey school in Essex and then moved it to Peabody. That endeavor has involved the entire Driscoll family, from coaching to running the concession stand.
The camp staff also includes Mr. Driscoll’s nephew Dan, who is director of athletics and hockey coach at the Berkshire School, and Mr. Driscoll’s son Sean of Boston, a former ice hockey and lacrosse captain at Connecticut College, which seven of the Driscoll children attended.
Robert Edward Driscoll was born in Everett, a son of Daniel J. Driscoll Jr. and the former Marguerite Drew. His father was a Town Meeting member and chairman of the Finance Committee in Saugus, and his mother was an elementary school teacher.
“My dad believed in public service,’’ said Bob Jr., who is in the Connecticut College Athletic Hall of Fame. “He preached that to us often and felt strongly that you don’t leave things to get done by others.’’
Dan Driscoll said his uncle’s political career “reflected what he told his students, that it was important to be involved.’’
City Councilor Tom Walsh praised Mr. Driscoll’s “quiet effectiveness. Bob wasn’t a headline seeker. He had a calmness about him and he was respected because of his demeanor and reputation.’’
Walsh, a Democrat who also is a state representative from Peabody, said Mr. Driscoll was an advocate for initiatives to improve the school system and preserve neighborhood tranquility.
Bob Jr. said his father enjoyed dancing, surfing at Short Beach in Nahant, and telling a joke, though he usually laughed before the punch line. Mr. Driscoll’s children and grandchildren, he continued in a eulogy at the April 29 funeral Mass, often received “a playful pinch of the nose’’ while glimpsing “that twinkle in his eye. We were lucky to have that love.’’
In addition to his wife, Sally; his sons Bob Jr. and Sean; his brothers John, David, and Daniel; and his nephew Dan, Mr. Driscoll leaves three other sons, Mark of Santa Barbara, Calif., Joseph of Eagle Point, Ore., and Teddy of Los Angeles; five daughters, Sara McKenna of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Tisha Tubbs of Oakland, Calif., Bridget of Boston, Maggie McCormick of Tampa, and Katelyn of Los Angeles; another brother, Stephen of Manchester-by-the-Sea; two sisters, Marybeth Wonson of Essex and Martha Healey of Kingston, N.H.; and nine grandchildren.
“He inspired me and many others to teach and coach, and first and foremost he was an educator,’’ his nephew said. “Bob used hockey to emphasize being a good teammate, being accountable, and being part of something bigger than yourself.’’
Marvin Pave can be reached at marvin.pave@rcn.com.
