husband Larry Norrell, who taught alongside Coach LaFlamme.

“One of the finest gentlemen you could ever meet,” Norrell said of his colleague and fellow biology teacher at Stanley-Boyd.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point in 1969, LaFlamme took a teaching job at the local school, going on to coach wrestling and football, along with teaching biology and driver’s ed.

“We taught together for 31 years,” Norrell said of his colleague and friend. LaFlamme is remembered as being dependable, student oriented, and popular with students, helping steer kids towards education and leadership.

“To this day there are decades of kids who respect him as Mr. LaFlamme,” Norrell said of the educator and coach who made both the Wrestling Hall of Fame (2004) and Football Back to “legendary,” the word that former athlete, physician and friend Todd Ponick used of Coach LaFlamme.

“The reason I say that is that every athlete and student he ever worked with, he made them a better athlete and a better person,” Ponick shared. Among the lessons LaFlamme taught student athletes was that sports wasn’t everything and that lessons for life were learned on

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the field or mat of competition. “I never met anyone who ever met him who didn’t like him,” Ponick said of his former coach. A big part of this was that LaFlamme understood psychology and listened first to understand someone, before helping them get through a problem, whatever it could be.

“Not a lot of people do that,” Ponick said. “There’s a reason he’s in the Hall of Fame for football and wrestling,” Former superintendent Jim Jones and current superintendent Jeff Koenig each had tributes of their own as well.

“The best thing about Lee was his stories,” Jones said. “He always had one more story.”

“It’s really sad to lose Lee,” Koenig said as current head football coach and having worked with LaFlamme, who was one of his assistant coaches.

“He was a great coach,. A great friend, and a great person in the community Koenig said.

A full obituary is on page 7, while a memorial service will be held at Oriole Park September 28.

“He was the kind of guy who bled Orange and Black, as they say,” Jones said of the local legend and mentor to generations of Oriole alumni.