Jim Ware was looking forward to teaching full-time at Broadneck High this fall so he could devote more time to the school where he coached softball for 11 seasons.
Ware, The Examiner?s Coach of the Year, will never get that opportunity, as he died suddenly on Saturday morning. He was 62.
Beth Ware, Jim?s daughter, said her father experienced chest pains early Saturday morning and she took him to the emergency room at Anne Arundel Medical Center, where he died shortly after arrival.
“We?re all in shock right now,” Beth Ware, a 1999 Broadneck High graduate, said. “Everyone?s support we?ve received has helped and shown how much his contributions meant to other people.”
Ware, a retired marine, had just received his teaching certificate. He spent last year at South River High in Edgewater, where he taught math on a provisional certificate.
But Ware always wanted to be at Broadneck. This spring, he led the Bruins to the Anne Arundel County title and 4A East Region final en route to finishing 21-4.
During his 11 seasons, Ware developed the Bruins into one of the state?s top teams in a league that has produced six state champions in the past seven seasons, including Chesapeake this past spring. Broadneck was the only team to defeat Chesapeake this season ? and the Bruins did it twice.
“There?s no doubt Jim Ware turned Broadneck into a state title contender and he will truly be missed,” Ken Kazmarek, Broadneck?s athletics director, said. “He was part of the heart and soul of this school.”
Former Glen Burnie coach Bob Broccolino said Ware transformed Broadneck?s team.
“Broadneck never used to be a force in the county and then Jim took the program over and built the program right,” Broccolino said. “Then, all of the sudden he started getting players he could build around and just exploded on the scene. He always seemed to coach with the proper perspective and will be missed.”
Along with Beth, Ware is survived by a son, Patrick; two grandchildren, all of Severna Park, and a stepfather, Frank Dochnal, of St. Louis. Beth Ware said she was touched by the outpouring of support by the softball community, as flowers have been placed on the school?s softball field. The family is planning to hold a memorial service for Ware at the school.
“He did everything he could to be involved with the community,” Beth said. “And we want his memorial service to be at Broadneck because of what the school meant to him.”
