Driven to help others

Anthony Turchi spent most of his life driving — not always behind the wheel, but always behind the scenes.

The steering force of the South Philadelphia Sabres organization made sure every kid played baseball, even if the parents couldn’t pay the whole registration fee. If a child needed a larger uniform because he was bigger than the other players, Turchi would pitch in the extra cost to save the youngster from any embarrassment.

The former carpenter and ball player was always driving his son to practice, his two daughters to school, his neighbors and even strangers to wherever they needed to go.

That’s the kind of guy Anthony Turchi was — and that’s why the line at his viewing last Wednesday stretched three blocks, with young athletes and old friends alike sobbing on the sidelines after saying goodbye to their beloved coach and pal, who, at 50, died too young.

"Anthony spent his entire life trying not to be noticed. Obviously he was noticed by everyone," said his brother Joe, 46.

The father of three, and father figure to countless local youths, volunteered endless hours to the Sabres, the majority of which were spent behind the scenes of the neighborhood sports club.

"He didn’t want a title," said Terri Turchi (formerly Graham), his wife of 25 years. "He didn’t want recognition."

"Daddy was a very shy person," added his daughter Elizabeth, 22.

Turchi also wasn’t one to complain when he wasn’t feeling well.

On Sept. 19, the coach was driving his 18-year-old daughter, Jacqueline, back to Cabrini College with his wife following a Sunday-night dinner when he started experiencing chest pains. He shrugged them off.

"He said, ‘It’ll pass, I’ll be OK,’" said a tearful Terri last week, while recalling the painful night from the family’s home on the 700 block of Johnston Street.

"We got a little further and he started sweating profusely and he took his hat off, which he never did," she said. "I asked him if I could drive."

As they got further into the fast-paced traffic of I-76, his symptoms worsened and he began to cough, prompting Terri to tell her husband, "Please, please pull over."

Anthony died in his wife’s arms on the shoulder of the Schuylkill Expressway.

Many fond memories are sustaining Turchi’s family, which also includes his sister, four brothers, in-laws and more than a dozen nieces and nephews. Each can relay his or her own stories about the cheerful family man who loved cooking, the Beatles and baseball season for his young athletes.

During ball season, his wife recalled, he would leave the house at 6 a.m. to work on the Sabres’ fields, Seventh Street and Packer Avenue, and return by 7:30 to wake his family for work and school.

His players also remember his dedication: They signed a baseball to be buried with their coach. An additional autographed ball sits on display in the family living room. Others have stopped at Seventh and Packer to throw pennies onto the field in tribute to Turchi, signifying "a penny for your thoughts."

"There is a pile of good thoughts for Dad," said Elizabeth.

The neighborhood ballpark was a second home to Turchi. Terri, who works the front desk at the Wachovia Center, used to joke that dinner was being held up because her husband was lining the fields.

The coach was committed to the Sabres almost year-round, starting with publicity and signups, then maintenance throughout the regular season and, finally, the banquet.

It was never about drawing bigger numbers than the Southeast Youth Athletic Association, Seventh and Bigler streets, or the Delaware Valley Youth Athletic Association, 18th and Johnston streets, his brother said.

"Rather than fight [with the other clubs], he wanted to do things jointly for the kids," recalled Joe.

His proudest moment over his 13 years with the Sabres was coaching his son Anthony’s team of 7- and 8-year-olds, the Angels, to a league championship almost a decade ago.

Anthony, now 17, is following in his father’s footsteps by playing varsity baseball at Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High. His dad, a 1972 Neumann graduate, played football and baseball. The former quarterback led the Pirates’ freshman football team to an undefeated season.

Turchi often drove his son and teammates to batting cages in South Jersey.

"He would tell me how to recognize a pitch and what position was his favorite [right field]," the younger Anthony said. "It’s very special to play on the same field as him."

Turchi also looked out for his siblings. When he thought younger brother Joe deserved to be inducted into the Neumann Athletic Hall of Fame, big brother secretly submitted the nomination. In 2002, Joe Turchi received the surprise honor.

"Anthony was always my biggest supporter," he recalled.

Helping out was just a way of life for Anthony Turchi. His family members got some much-needed comic relief as they recounted tales of the coach picking up strangers in snowstorms and giving lifts to the Melrose Diner.

"Anthony had a face you could trust," said Terri, a Goretti alumna who fell in love with that face as a teenager at the Neumann-Goretti dances.

The music of the Beatles was another of Turchi’s loves, reflected by the name of the hyper family terrier: McCartney.

Among his daughters’ favorite memories was his love of cooking, namely the three days he would spend preparing the Christmas Eve feast for 35 people.

Jacqueline treasures the time she spent with her dad over the summer learning to roast peppers.

"We always used to say he was cooking for an army," she recalled.

Turchi also was in charge of organizing the annual New Year’s Eve celebration, with guests over the house until the wee hours and back at 8:30 a.m. for the Mummers Parade, roast pork and soup.

"He was the glue," said Terri. "We called him Elmer."

One of his good friends, Brian Dietrich, of the 2600 block of South Mildred Street, still remembers when Turchi would invite him over to watch Flyers games because his side of Broad Street didn’t have cable TV yet.

As their families grew close over the years, Dietrich said he had realized that his late friend was one of a kind.

"If you could find a person in South Philly that has a bad thing to say about Anthony, I want to meet them."

Of course Turchi also will be missed on the baseball fields come springtime, especially by his friend John Sandefur, Sabres president.

"I not only lost a partner in the field, but I lost a best friend," Sandefur said.

As a tribute, every Sabres all-star team is going to be known as the Anthony Turchi All-Stars, and all six fields of the ballpark will be dedicated in his remembrance.

"We’re going to put our best foot forward in Anthony’s memory," said Sandefur. "Nobody can fill his shoes."