Richards Mourns Loss Of Retired Football Coach Gary Korhonen

OAK LAWN, IL -- Services are set for Gary Korhonen, the retired head varsity football coach and social studies teacher at Richards High School, who died Dec. 2 of congestive heart failure. He was 77. Korhonen holds an IHSA record as one of Illinois’s winningest coaches, with 306 wins and two state titles.

Korhonen spent 45 years as the head football coach at Richards High School in Oak Lawn. From 1985 to 2007, Korhonen led the Bulldogs to an impressive 23 consecutive state playoff appearances, including two Class 4A state championships when Richards went undefeated in 1988 and 1989. The 2001 team was the 6A state runner up. During his final season in 2007, he set a new IHSA record with the most career wins, surpassing Providence's Matt Senffner, who had 300 victories. Korhonen's state record for victories was surpassed in 2011 by Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti, according to the Daily Southtown.

Two years before Korhonen retired, Richards renamed its football stadium Korhonen Field. Following his retirement in 2007, he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Eisenhower and Shepard. Former players recalled the positive influence Korhonen had on their lives as players and as people.

“Coach Korhonen was a great great man and had a very large and positive impact on my life during high school. He believed in me at a young age and helped put me in a position to be successful at Richards and into my college years, which have been a big part of my foundation currently. I am very sad to hear he has passed but I know there is a special place in Heaven for such a great man that positively influenced so many lives. Thanks Coach. Greg Murphy, class of '95.”

“Coach Korhonen was a great educator, competitor, and example of the right way for both his students and opposing coaches. I really appreciated our moments together! Sincerely Tommy Myers (football coach at Lake Forest High School-1986 thru 2000). Tommy Meyers.”

Korhonen leaves his wife, Eileen (McGrath) and three children, Kelly Korhonen, Katey (Bob) Perkaus and Kris (Andrea) Korhonen; two granddaughters, Annabelle and Penelope; and a sister, Marilyn Mason.
Visitation for Korhonen will take place from 2 to 9 p.m.Tuesday, Dec. 5, at Our Lady of the Woods Catholic Church, 10731 W 131st St, Orland Park. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the church at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6. Arrangements are entrusted to Brady-Gill Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, his family has requested that memorials in his name be made to Friends of CHSD 218 Foundation/Gary Korhonen Turf Fund. Friends and family may leave condolences on the online guestbook available on Legacy.com.

Read more about Coach Korhonen’s legacy in the Daily Southtown

Photo: Richards football coach Gary Korhonen in 2007, con the night he set the new IHSA record for most career wins in football. | CHSD 218.