Denis Michael Kanach

Denis enjoyed a successful career spanning over four decades as a track coach, educator, and collegiate athletics administrator. A strong youth, he was spotted by all-time national coaching great Frank “Gag” Gagliano who put him in the shot put circle for Roselle Catholic High School (’65) in Roselle, NJ. Denis promptly began tossing the heavy metal ball record-breaking distances. He won Union County, State, and NYC Invitational championships and finished runner-up in the 1965 Eastern States championship held in the old Madison Square Garden.

Denis earned a full athletic scholarship to Manhattan College (’69) and majored in Business. It was there that he met some of his lifelong friends who introduced him to Therese “Terry” (McManus), who became the love of his life. After graduation he returned to Roselle Catholic as a teacher and took over the cross country and track & field (XC/T&F) coaching reins from Coach Gag, who remained a great friend and mentor for the rest of Denis’s life, speaking daily with him in recent years. As head coach, Denis led the Lions teams and individuals to numerous County, NJCTC and NJ State XC/T&F titles, as well as the 1970 Penn Relays HS Two-Mile Relay Championship. He loved that he attended Roselle Catholic, and over 50 years later he continued to stay in close touch with dozens of “his athletes,” each of whose accomplishments and family members he could readily recall.

In 1974 he was hired by hall of fame athletic director Frank Rienzo to help coach Georgetown University’s XC/T&F programs. Over the next five years the Hoyas achieved significant national success, set several U.S. collegiate records, and one of his Hoya student-athletes upset the field by winning the 1976 Boston Marathon. In 1979, Denis transitioned from coach to administrator as the first Director of the innovative Yates Field House while taking leadership roles in supporting numerous of the university’s sports programs, including helping lead the Women’s and Men’s Lacrosse programs and other sports to national prominence. For decades he was a fixture along the sidelines administering home Men’s Basketball games including during the beloved Hoya Paranoia years. He oversaw major construction projects for the Athletic Department and provided senior-level support to diversity initiatives. By 2000, he attained the position of Chief Operating Officer and Senior Associate Director of Athletics.

In 2004, after 30 years at Georgetown, he took on a new challenge as the Director of Athletics at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA, where he and his trusted coaching staff led a resurgence of the sports programs at both the conference and national levels. He directed renovations that turned Randolph-Macon College into one of the best facilities in Division III. In 2010 he finally retired to spend more time with Terry at their house on a lake – and to keep up with their fast-growing family. He loved fishing with his grandchildren at the lake.

His family was his pride and joy. He is survived by “the Brothers” as he and Terry referred to their four sons: Francis (Leah), Jesse (Sara), Daniel (Kate), and Michael (Kristen). He was rightly proud of his eight grandchildren, Camille, Duncan, Darcy, Josephine, Zyggy, Rowan, Marie, and Cal (and one more baby granddaughter on the way!). He is also survived by his “lil bro” Kevin and Kevin’s family of Clark, NJ, and Denis’s loving brother-in-law James H. McManus of Richmond, VA.

In 2019 Denis sat bedside as Terry, his wife of 49 years, peacefully passed away from cancer. Denis was also predeceased by his father Otto Kanach (who had been a foreman at an Anheuser-Busch bottling plant in New Jersey before retiring to Lake Worth, Florida), his mother Dolores (Montferrat) (who famously shared varieties of cookies from her workplace Vaccaro’s bakery in Clark, NJ), and his younger brother Jackie.

A Celebration of the Life of Denis Kanach will be held on Sat., April 22, 2023, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with remarks around 5:00 p.m.

Address: River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD.

All are welcome. Light food and beverages are planned. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Roselle Catholic Spiked Shoe Club in support of the track and field program that kicked off so many of Denis’s achievements (https://donorbox.org/spiked-shoe-club). On our website - under donations - click on Spiked Shoe Club - it will direct you to the Spiked Shoe Club link.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McEwenPinevilleChapel.com for the Kanach family.