This post was originally published on this site
Chris Conlin with his wife Pam and son Kevin in 2016. (Photo courtesy Carolyn Boudreau).
Chris Conlin made an impact with a countless number of high school athletes he coached during his lengthy and memorable career in Southern California, including Orange County.
Many of those athletes have expressed their sympathies since Conlin died in a medical facility on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 surrounded by family after battling an illness since the first week of January, according to his wife Pam.
The celebration of life for Conlin will be held on Saturday, May 17 at 10 a.m. at Friends Church, 5091 Mountain View Avenue, Yorba Linda. The public is invited.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Conlin, 71, was born on June 30, 1953.
Not only did the athletes learn a lot about whatever sport Conlin was coaching, whether it was baseball, football, track and field or wrestling, but Conlin tried to prepare them for what lied ahead. He often told players it was important what kind of people are, that they weren’t necessarily defined by what they did in sports.
“Coach Conlin had a tremendous impact on my life beside the baseball field, was an absolute role model to me and a father figure, the life lessons he would instill on us I will never forget, work hard even when nobody is looking, always give it 100 perfect, leave your mark and be a good human, these lessons I use today in raising my son Jaycob and daughter Celeste,” said former Uni player Ernie Medina from the class of 1995.
“We built a bond together, even after graduation in 1995, I immediately began my coaching career in baseball at University High.”
Chris and Pam Conlin, residents of Santa Ana, were married for 46 years and together for 51 and have two children, Kevin and Kim. Survivors also include Kevin Conlin’s wife Hilary and Kim’s husband Tim.
Pam and Chris have three grandsons. Kevin and Hilary have one son Hunter and Kim and Tim have two sons, River and Walker.
Chris Conlin’s late father, Ken was the owner of a popular sporting goods store, Conlin Brothers Sporting Goods. His father ran the business with his brothers and Chris Conlin used to work there part-time in college.
Chris Conlin grew up in Whittier and went to high school at California High School in Whittier and then attended Rio Hondo College before earning his degree at Whittier College, majoring in English and physical education. Conlin earned his Master’s Degree at Azusa Pacific University.
He played baseball and football and also wrestled in college.
Conlin got interested in coaching at a young age, coaching Murphy Ranch Little League in Whittier at the age of 14, Pam Conlin said.
He started coaching on the high school level at Schurr High School in Montebello, then went to Norte Vista High School before moving to Gahr High School, where he was the wrestling and head baseball coach.
Conlin then went to Glendora where he was the head football coach for two years.
“After that, he went to University High School with (Steve) Scoggin (Uni’s boys basketball coach at the time),” Pam Conlin said.
Chris Conlin arrived at University in 1984 where he was head baseball coach and was an assistant coach on the football and wrestling teams. Rick Curtis, now the head football coach at Crean Lutheran, was the head football coach at University.
Conlin had two stints as University’s varsity baseball coach returning to guide the program several years after his first time as head coach. After his second run as head coach, Conlin retired as a full-time coach and teacher in 2017, his wife said.
But Conlin continued to be active in coaching as a walk-on. He coached at Crean Lutheran, Northwood, Estancia and Portola.
At Estancia, he was an assistant in 2019 with his son Kevin, who was the head baseball coach and had the same role when Kevin Conlin took the job at Portola. Earlier in his career, Chris Conlin also coached his son on the Uni baseball team and later Kevin Conlin joined him as an assistant coach at Uni.
Kevin Conlin graduated from University in 2001 and went on to play at UCLA.
“It meant everything to him,” Pam Conlin said of Chris Conlin coaching with his son. “They were best friends and I think God was just giving them extra time.”
Chris Conlin also assisted Rob Stuart with the baseball program at Northwood. He also coached wrestling at Northwood.
“Then he started working at Concordia (University) with the mentorship for people who were going to become teachers,” Pam Conlin said. “He would mentor them through their Master’s program. At the same time, he decided he didn’t really want to coach, but he wanted to referee football.
“So, he got onto a crew doing high school football games and he really enjoyed that.”
Conlin took an interest in the lives of many athletes.
His favorite part of coaching:
“It was the kids,” Pam Conlin said. “They would come to him with their problems, they didn’t have a ride to school, he would pick them up and take them home. He kind of took them under his wing, especially when the El Toro Marine base was around. Most of those kids are still very much in his life to this very day and they call me all the time to find out how I’m doing.”
Chris Conlin was always there to help his athletes. Many he stayed in touch with and he made it a part to attend the annual University alumni baseball events, including the one in January 2022 when Tim Wallach and Garrett Atkins were honored.
“Both my parents worked for Irvine Company and I didn’t have a ride to make it to off season baseball class at 6 a.m., Coach Conlin told me, ‘no problem Ernie. I will pick you up from your parents farm house at 5:30 a.m. every morning’ and he did,” said Medina, the former University player.
“We built such a great friendship even after 34 years later we always kept in contact and attending each others family events and we talked on the phone quite a bit and we {would] make a lunch event between Chris Conlin and Tim Blackburn class of 1995.
“One of my biggest honors for me was coming up at Chris Conlin retirement party/event and speaking on behalf of our senior class of 1995. Chris’s love and care for he’s players was something special and he was firm in correcting our mistakes.”
Conlin had numerous health challenges, his wife pointed out. In July, Chris Conlin tried to battle back after a serious bout with COVID in which he was hospitalized. As a youngster, he battled hepatitis-C, he had two shoulder surgeries, five knee operations and one knee replacement surgery. He also battled back from skin cancer, neck and throat cancer and prostate cancer, Pam Conlin added.
Conlin met each challenge with dignity and always battled, up until the very end.
“He had a lot going on,” Pam Conlin said.
His family was at the top of the list, but he had other interests too.
“Family was the most important thing,” Pam Conlin said. “He liked to go play poker with friends and he liked to go to baseball games and he really liked meeting his friends for lunch.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers were Conlin’s favorite team and he was thrilled when the Dodgers won the World Series last season. A close friend surprised Conlin with season tickets to a game last April.
“The seats were almost on the field,” Pam Conlin said.
He also liked to go to concerts and attend shows at the Improv.
“If he could be at the Improv every night, he would be,” Pam Conlin said. “He loved comedy.”
Conlin liked musical groups the Fu Fighters, he liked listening to Kenny Loggins music, Fleetwood Mac and Coldplay, Pam Conlin said.
He also enjoyed having conversations with people he didn’t know.
“If you met Chris and you hit it off, you were a friend for life and he made friends everywhere, there were times when we would be at a gas station and he would be pumping gas,” Pam Conlin said.
Five or 10 minutes later, she noticed Chris Conlin talking to somebody else pumping gas. Oftentimes, he would say people wearing T-shirts of a certain school.
“He loved to talk and if you had a team hat or a team shirt on, he would strike up a conversation with you, he really loved people,” Pam Conlin said.
His faith was also important.
“In 2012, he was born again and his faith was stronger than it had ever had been and he made it a point to care extra for his friends and reach out and if anybody needed anything he was always there for his friends,” Pam Conlin said.
Ernie Medina and many other teammates have expressed their gratitude to Conlin on social media. Medina talked to Chris Conlin about two weeks before he became ill in January.
“We were planning a lunch event with Tim Blackburn myself and Ese Roberts,” Medina said. “Ese Roberts was my teammate on the football team 1995.”
Pam Conlin said she has been heartened by phone calls, messages and offers of support and has been reflecting on the memories.
“He was my best friend,” she said.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com