LYNN — The local baseball community lost a devoted member Friday when former North Shore Navigators General Manager Bill Terlecky died after a valiant battle with cancer. Terlecky, 65, spent the past few weeks in hospice at Kaplan House in Danvers.
“It’s a sad day for the Navigators and across the baseball community,” said Navigators owner Derek January. “Bill was a steward for the game and a pillar in our community. He was so well known on the North Shore that people thought he lived here all his life and not just the eight years he ran the Navs. It was an honor to call him my friend, and the Januarys wouldn’t own the Navs if Bill wasn’t in our corner as we went through the process of buying the team. I’m a better person for knowing him. He’ll be missed.”
Terlecky, an Ohio native who resided in Swampscott, joined the Navigators shortly after former owner Pat Salvi purchased the organization in 2012. He spent 41 years as an executive in baseball before retiring at the end of the 2019 Futures Collegiate Baseball League season.
“Bill was not only a wonderful baseball man and a terrific general manager but, more importantly, he was a loyal friend, wonderful father and was blessed with a great sense of humor,” Salvi said. “He had only friends. No enemies. He’ll be missed.”
Under Terlecky’s watch, the Navigators were named FCBL Organization of the Year in 2015 and 2018. Attendance increased steadily during his eight-year tenure, with an average of 1,200 fans attending games since 2017.
“Bill’s the reason for the revitalization of baseball at Fraser Field,” said Navigators Director of Public Relations Joe Gill. “The rise in attendance and the success on the field was the product of Bill’s hard work and leadership.”
Perhaps what Terlecky will best be remembered for is the impact he left on the community. Terlecky was known for bringing radiant energy to the diamond. He enjoyed inviting young fans out onto the field between innings and aimed to provide the best possible fan experience.
“He worked hard at getting people to Fraser,” said Manning/Fraser Facilities Manager Rich Avery. “He brought a new wave of fans to Fraser, so to speak. He never stopped. Even when he was sick, he worked hard at bringing a very good low-cost family friendly event to Lynn every night.”
Terlecky strived to involve the Navigators in local activities. He served on the Lynn Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and was often spotted at local Little League events. He earned Bridgewell’s Employment Supports Program Champion Award in 2018 for his work supporting individuals with disabilities in the community.
“For a guy that wasn’t originally from Lynn, he was what Lynn’s all about,” Avery said. “He was involved with the city as a whole. He was one of the first to welcome me when I first got the job and we became really good friends. It’s a sad day. He’s definitely going to be missed in the city.”
Terlecky was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in February 2018. Further tests revealed he carried an inoperable tumor. He stepped away from his general manager duties during the 2018 season, when Gill and Ashley Laramie stepped up in his place, but remained close to the team and returned last season.
“I saw a different side of him battling cancer,” said Laramie, the assistant general manager. “He knew I lost my dad two and a half years ago to cancer. I got the more emotional parts of what was going to happen to him. Every person’s different with cancer. My dad was the same way, both very positive. You could physically see it on him, but mentally it’s what kept him going. It’s very admirable for anyone that battles cancer to continue their daily lives and continue working.
“He was like another father figure for me for the past eight years. It was tough seeing both my dads, my real dad and my work dad, lose their battles to cancer.”
Both Gill and Laramie said they viewed Terlecky as a role model.
“I learned a tremendous amount from Bill,” Gill said. “Not only about baseball but about life. He was a role model to me by the way he lived his life and the way he treated people. If everyone could treat others with half of the genuine kindness and respect Bill did, the world would be a better place. I’m a better person for knowing and learning from Bill.”
“When he came to town, I learned anything and everything possible about running a minor league team,” Laramie said. “He wanted to run our team like a minor league as much as possible. Things that seemed small were big learning points for me. It’s endless, what I learned from him, because I learned so much.”
Terlecky is survived by his son, Tyler, wife Kaitlyn, mother Eileen, and sister Mary Ann.
A funeral will be held next Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Solimine Funeral Home followed by a funeral Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in Swampscott at 10 a.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be on Tuesday from 4-8 p.m.
Donations in Bill’s memory may be made to his “Little Pals” at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or at stjude.org.