(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Joseph Pechinsky (Peabody, Mass.), the coach of five members of past U.S. Olympic Teams, passed away on Thursday morning at the Radius Health Care Center in Danvers, Mass. at the age of 92.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Pechinsky served for five years and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Following World War II, Pechinsky returned to work in the leather industry and went on to join the Peabody Fire Department in 1952. Pechinsky served in the department for 31 years before his retirement in 1983.
While coaching wrestling during the 1960s, Pechinsky injured his knee and learned how to fence while he was recovering. In 1968, he coached his niece, Sally Pechinsky, to a berth on the Olympic Team where she competed in women’s team foil.
Among Pechinsky’s other students who went on to qualify for Olympic Teams were Scotty Bozek (men’s epee / 1972 and 1976), Jana Angelakis (women’s foil / 1980 and 1984), Molly Sullivan (women’s foil / 1988 and 1992) and Mary Jane O’Neill (women’s foil / 1988 and 1992).
Pechinsky was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 1996 and continued to coach until 2006.
Pechinsky is survived by a sister and brother-in-law, Jennie M. and Raymond Maciewicz of Danvers, Mass. and many nieces and nephews and grand nieces and grand nephews. He was the brother of the late John, Frank, Benjamin and William Pechinsky.
A visitation will be held on Sunday from 4 – 7 p.m. at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody facility. His funeral will be held on Monday at 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home which will be followed by a funeral mass at St. John’s Church, 16 Church St., Peabody at 11:00 a.m. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Peabody Fireman’s Relief Fund, 41 Lowell St., Peabody, MA 01960 in his memory.
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