Colombo All-Stars Wear Black Armbands and Gather on Frank Wall Field After 1,000 Mourners Fill St. Catherine’s Church to Celebrate a 38-Year Legacy of Youth Mentorship
NORWOOD — The Colombo All-Stars will pick up their bats today for their first game since their legendary coach, Frank Wall, passed away in a dugout on Monday. The 12-year-old players are determined to prevail against a Walpole team on a ballfield proudly named in his honor. “We’re going to win it,” vowed catcher Jack Murray, after the team gathered on the pitcher’s mound to say a prayer and walked the diamond at Frank Wall Field following Wall’s funeral on Friday. “He was the best coach, the greatest,” added pitcher and third baseman Chuck Maddocks. For most of the young athletes wearing black armbands on their blue and gold uniforms, it was their first experience attending a funeral.
Approximately 1,000 mourners filled St. Catherine’s Church to pay their final respects to Wall, who died of a heart attack at age 62 while cheering on his team. Lifelong friend Rev. Joseph Kane delivered a moving eulogy honoring Wall’s remarkable 38-year coaching career, which began when he started coaching the Braves Little League team in 1953 and led him to found the Colombo All-Stars in 1960, directing more than 2,000 games and mentoring generations of Norwood youth. “Frank loved his God and loved his neighbor and, in a very special way, loved children,” Kane said. “He sought out the good, brought out the best and accepted kids for who they were… Today Frank Wall has been granted his ‘Field of Dreams’ by the Lord.”
Affectionately known to friends as “Sails” due to his prominent ears, Wall was a pillar of the community.
In addition to his volunteer coaching, he worked as a dedicated sportswriter covering local athletics for the Norwood Messenger and the Daily Transcript.
His sister-in-law, Marjorie Wall, noted that despite being recruited by larger metropolitan newspapers, he preferred staying local because “he just loved what he was doing.”
A lifelong Norwood resident who never married, Wall cherished his independence and poured his generosity into the community—frequently spending his own money to take teams on trips to Florida or Vermont, sending holiday fruit baskets to families in need, and purchasing quality equipment for children in need, including hockey skates and baseball gloves for his youngest brother, Peter Wall.
During the service, Peter Wall shared fond memories of his brother’s selfless spirit, remarking, “This is one story that Sails would have loved to have done. He would have added a little color though. In his column, he would have had Robert De Niro here. And Kevin Costner here.” (Reporting by Lyndsey Layton for The Patriot Ledger).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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