South Shore track coach remembered as someone who valued every athlete

Hall of fame track and field coach Fred Jewett died at his home on April 25. He was 76 years old.

Whether you were a student in his English class at Hingham High or one of the hundreds of athletes coached by Jewett in the Harborman cross country and track and field programs over the last three decades, Jewett recognized your dedication and did his best to bring out your best.

“Fred treated his teams like they were family. From the stars to the last kid on the bench, he cared about every single athlete and created meaningful relationships with all of them that lasted far beyond high school,” said Hingham High athletic director Jim Quatromoni. “I am thankful that our paths crossed. Fred was so incredibly generous with the people in his life.”

A graduate of Archbishop Williams and Boston State College, the Weymouth native taught English at South Junior High and then Hingham High for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2010.

On the athletic field, Jewett started his coaching career on the gridiron. He coached football at Archbishop Williams, Weymouth North, Scituate, and was the head coach of the Hingham High team for eight years. While coaching Hingham, one of Jewett’s players was Jeff Granatino. The pair struck up a friendship that lasted for decades.

“Fred became a confidant for me over the years. He was someone I always knew I could bring anything to and seek his advice,” said Granatino, the retired Marshfield superintendent of schools and former president of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. “I never heard anyone ever say a bad word about Fred and over the years he became a father figure to me. Whether it was in the classroom or on the athletic field, he was incredibly passionate about helping his athletes bring out the best they had inside of them.”

It runs in the family

Jewett loved the act of coaching. Appropriately enough, he coached until the day that he passed away. Over the years, his track and field teams won 29 league titles and 11 state titles.

Jewett helped countless athletes take their talents to the college level, like Class of 2006 graduate Bill Monohan.

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“Coach Jewett impacted me immensely in the classroom as my English teacher and as my track coach. He was a mentor in the truest sense of the word,” said Monohan. “You always knew he cared about the person first, and then the athlete. All he ever wanted was the best for you.”

A four-time MIAA Coach of the Year, Jewett was also named the NFHS Northeast Regional Coach of the Year once and was enshrined into the MSTCA Hall of Fame in 2015.

Some of Jewett’s favorite times in recent years were spent on the HHS track coaching cross country and track and field with his son, David.

“It was surreal to be coached by him and then later to have the opportunity to coach with him,” said David Jewett. “We had some incredible teams and those memories of spending time with my Dad and my own young son around the track will be with me for the rest of my life.”

“I will always remember how much my Dad cared about all of his students and athletes. I don’t know how he fit in all he did into a 24-hour day. He inspired me to want to be a teacher and a coach,” said David Jewett, who is the chairman of the math department at Hingham High. “He was the type of person where if you were in his life, you were in his life forever.”

David Jewett said his father had an incredible ability to connect with people and create relationships that stood the test of time.

As for any common traits of a Fred Jewett-coached team, David thought for a moment and then said “Dad’s teams worked hard and always competed with respect and dignity. He loved all his kids, but he understood that not everyone on the team was going to be a superstar, so he was never disappointed in you as long as you did your best.”

David Jewett said the quiet hero of Fred Jewett’s coaching career was Fred’s wife of 52 years, his mother Rosemary.

“My Mom has always been the rock of this family,” said David Jewett, who has two brothers, Stephen and Thomas. “While Dad was getting to live out his love for coaching, she always supported him and made it all work at home with the family.”  

There will be a Celebration of Life honoring Fred Jewett on Saturday, May 23, at 12:30 p.m. in the Hingham High School Auditorium. Donations may be made to the Fred Jewett Memorial Scholarship Fund at https://fredjewettmemorialscholarship.weebly.com/.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Track community mourns the loss of Hingham's Fred Jewett