On November 14, nearly 100 members from previous teams Coakley had coached in his 38 years with the Lions paid tribute
to him at a dinner party at the Columbia Club. Bobby Watt emceed the proceedings, during which Coakley was given
a defense bond and a replica of the Lion at Baker Field. Athletics Director Ralph Furey, Paul Governali, new Head Coach Johnny
Balquist, and George Smith were among those in attendance.
"Keep throwing them high, hard, and on the outside," a well-wishing telegram to Coakley at the ceremony read.
Coakley led a somewhat low-profile life with his wife in their First Avenue Manhattan apartment after he left Columbia,
though, as shown below, he still made public appearances every now and then. He devoted full time to an insurance
firm, Providence Mutual Insurance Company in Philadelphia, a place he had previously been working in the off-season
while not coaching.
| Former CU Coach Andy Coakley and Mrs. Leo Durocher |
|
| The New York Times, 4/30/52 [Click to enlarge] |
The honors kept pouring in for Coakley after he left Columbia. He was inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall
of Fame in 1954, and Holy Cross, his alma mater, elected him to their Athletic Hall of Fame in 1958. He was enshrined in the
Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969, six years after his death.
Around New Years' 1963, Coakley suffered an incapacitating stroke, and had to be confined to a nursing home, the Mary
Manning Walsh Home on 59th Street in Manhattan, thereafter. He died on September 27, 1963, at age 80.
| An older Andy Coakley |
|
| New York Times, 9/14/51 |
|
 |
|
