Tommy Finnegan, former coach, dies at 65
Led Flaget, Moore basketball teams

The Courier-Journal



Tommy J. Finnegan, who led Flaget High School to the state basketball title in 1960 and coached Moore High School to three Sweet Sixteen appearances, died Thursday after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 65.

Finnegan, known for his energy and love of athletics, continued to follow sports and attend Ascension Catholic Church through the course of his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which attacks the body's muscular systems.



"He enjoyed every day, and he loved sports," said his brother, Jack Finnegan. "We would still talk and argue about the games.

"He couldn't move a muscle at the end. His wife (Susan) took him around in a wheelchair and in the van everywhere. They didn't miss a day at church."

Finnegan played basketball for the University of Louisville and was a coach for 20 years at Flaget and Moore. He also was an assistant coach at Bellarmine and Indiana University Southeast.

He continued to assist at Shawnee and Seneca high schools after his retirement.

Rick Bozich wrote a column for The Courier-Journal in December that highlighted Finnegan's positive approach to ALS.

"My faith has always been strong, and it's only gotten stronger," Finnegan said in December. "I pray a lot. I read a lot of prayers. A lot. I can still talk. I can still breathe. I guess things aren't so bad. I still get excited about a lot of things."

Visitation will be 3-8 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday at Ratterman and Sons Funeral Home, 3800 Bardstown Road. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Ascension Catholic Church, 4600 Lynnbrook Drive, with burial in Calvary Cemetery.

In addition to his wife and brother, survivors include a daughter, Tess; his mother, Dorothy; and a sister, Mary Walker.

The family requests that memorial gifts be made to the ALS Association of Kentucky, 2375 Fortune Drive., Lexington, KY, 40509 or Hospice and Palliative Care of Louisville, 3532 Ephraim McDowell Drive, Louisville, KY, 40205.