Bob Shwalb, Special to The Record
Mike Scuilla was nine years old when he walked into the music room at Lincoln Elementary School in Hasbrouck Heights carrying a trumpet.
Scuilla said, “That’s when I met Mr. Neal McCarthy for the first time.”
“He had this aura … this presence,” Scuilla added. “He was quite the music teacher.”
By all accounts, McCarthy was quite the teacher and quite the coach.
On Wednesday, McCarthy, who passed away in 2014, was honored posthumously for 50 years of teaching in the Hasbrouck Heights school system and 34 years as the high school’s tennis coach as its courts were named in his honor.
Among those in attendance were McCarthy’s wife Gail and his son Brian, who flew in from California for the ceremonies. Also on hand were scores of former students, tennis players, co-workers and friends as well as several school administrators. Mayor John “Jack” DeLorenzo, who grew up in the town and learned to play the drums from McCarthy, had hoped to attend but was unable to.
Hasbrouck Heights tennis coach Suzanne Caines served as McCarthy’s assistant for 15 years and described him as “patient, generous, inspirational and passionate” and as “an endless story teller and a true Renaissance man.”
“He taught music at all the schools in town,” said Scuilla, who taught and coached at the high school and is now its Athletic Director.
“So between music and tennis, Neal probably had more of a positive impact on the kids of Hasbrouck Heights than anyone in history.”
On the tennis courts, McCarthy coached the Aviator boys and girls teams from 1979 to 2013 and won a staggering 837 matches between the two. He also led the two teams to a combined 25 league titles and five state sectional crowns.
“The bond between Neal and the tennis players was amazing,” Scullia said. “He’d be out there four hours, every day. Staying extra to work with the beginners and with best players … he gave everyone the same amount of attention.
“Nobody has that type of passion.”
As much as McCarthy was a music teacher and a coach, he was a storyteller. McCarthy told his stories to his music students and his tennis players after practice. He saved some of his best for the school’s awards banquets.
“He’d talk about playing the sax or trumpet in some jazz band when he was like 12 … hanging out in bars in New York City,” Caines said.
McCarthy, who could play any instrument, often bought used ones on EBay, fixed them up and gave them to his students.
On the tennis courts, 30 or 40 kids came out for the team each season – a huge number for a Group 1 school. McCarthy’s practices usually lasted until it was dark and ended with some storytelling. Caines said, “We always joked that Coach McCarthy slept in the field house.”
“Neal always said his goodbye to kids the same way: ‘Did you have fun?’” Caines said. “And they always did.”
