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The following article is re-printed from the archives of The Orange County Register.  The article tells a story about Tom Willingham.

The Orange County Register

By TIM BURT, Sports Editor

July 19, 2001

Family and friends pay tribute to Willingham

About 500 turn out at service to honor former Woodbridge High coach 

About 500 people, including family members, friends and current and former Woodbridge High School athletes, turned out Saturday morning to pay their respects to Tom Willingham.

Willingham, a Woodbridge High assistant football coach and long-time youth sports coach, died July 6 at the age of 52 as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident in Fresno June 26.

During the memorial service at Mariner's Church in Irvine, friends, including the Rev. Glenn Rouse, who did the eulogy, recalled the father of three as a loving family man who was always interested in their lives.

Woodbridge football players honored Willingham, the team's kicking coach, by wearing their football jerseys. Head coach Rick Gibson, joined by many other coaches from the school and the city, was also on hand.

There were tears and laughs as guests watched a slide presentation put together by Gibson and assistant coach Gene Noji and his son, Randall Noji. The presentation showed pictures of Willingham with family members and athletes he coached over the years.

One picture showed him celebrating on the field with Woodbridge's 1998 CIF championship football team.

Former Woodbridge football players Nathan Bennett and Gavin Crew said Willingham was more than a coach to the players, he was a great friend to them.

"There are so many bright memories of Tom because he touched so many lives around him," said Crew.

Crew said Willingham had helped him deal with the death of his mother.

"Tom was a person I could always turn to whenever things would get rough," said Crew.

There were many humorous stories about Willingham, too.

Bennett, the place kicker, told how Willingham would lighten the moment by bringing out M&M's just before he was about to kick in a pressure situation.

Woodbridge assistant coach Kirk Harris said Willingham loved his wife, Cindy, and the couple's children, Amber, Mark and Deidre.

"He had an enormous heart," said Harris. "You would find him working with students in his daughter Amber's classroom at Turtle Rock Elementary School or he would be out on the football field teaching a high school athlete the art of place-kicking, or just sitting in the stands with Cindy, cheering on the Warriors.

"He brought sunshine when there was darkness, he brought rainbows when there was rain. I remember the time he ate 13 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in about two days. He passed it off, saying he needed an end of the year tax write-off, so he was making a charitable contribution."

Members of the Willingham family concluded the service by thanking friends and members of the community for their support.

Willingham's son, Mark, pointed out that his father had been killed as a result of an accident involving an alleged drunken driver.

Appealing to the many young people at the service, he asked them to be careful if they have been drinking.

He encouraged them to "call a cab, designate a sober driver one night a week or just say something, because even that can make a very big difference."

All of the Willingham children talked of how their father had affected their lives.

"I am very lucky," said Mark Willingham. "I am lucky that God blessed me with a dad who was so generous and so unselfish."

Contact Burt at tburt@ocregister.com or phone him at (949) 222-6144.

Copyright 2001 The Orange County Register

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