Pat Biello, beloved Hallahan coach and athletic director, dies at 79

Patricia Marie Biello, 79, beloved John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School basketball coach and athletic director, as well as longtime basketball coach at Lawncrest Recreation Center, died Sunday of pneumonia complications.

Born March 3, 1942, at Abington Hospital and moving to Germantown at age 9, Ms. Biello would develop a love for pick-up basketball games during grade school. By the time Ms. Biello graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School, she’d made it on the All-Catholic League Basketball list, an honor bestowed on outstanding athletes.

Known as Ms. Pat to students, Ms. Biello started teaching physical education and health at the now-closed Hallahan when she was 21. She would coach softball and basketball at Hallahan, go to night school and earn an associate’s degree from Temple University, and ascend to athletic director over the course of 49 years.

“I never considered being at Hallahan a job,” Ms. Biello told the Inquirer in 2013 when the school dedicated its gym in her honor post-retirement. “Every day was a happy day. It was wonderful.”

Nan Gallagher, former Hallahan president, said Ms. Biello could deliver difficult news – such as an increase in the cost of running the athletic department — with solutions at hand and a can-do spirit.

When it came to students, Ms. Biello was not one to yell and was known to offer a sympathetic ear.

“I think for Pat it was all about educating girls, and educating them mind, body, and spirit,” said Gallagher. “She just believed in the goodness of every human being.”

Ms. Biello was known for staying late to decorate for Hallahan celebrations or blow up balloons, set flowers, and work the lunch tables during freshman orientation. For her Hallahan colleagues, Ms. Biello liked to host an annual end-of-year picnic where everyone could relax and take in the work of the past year.

Those who knew Ms. Biello said she had what seemed like an endless energy reserve. Even after she retired from Hallahan in 2012, she continued to work part-time at the Lawncrest Recreation Center as recently as Dec. 1.

At Lawncrest, Ms. Biello would coach softball, volleyball, and of course, basketball for 50 years. Big names in basketball, such as Brittany “Ice” Hyrnko, of Harlem Globetrotter fame, and De’Andre Hunter, now with the Atlanta Hawks, would pass through her basketball program at Lawncrest Rec.

Lawncrest staff called Ms. Biello the “backbone” of the center, a “rec mom” creating a second home for children.

Summer camp at Lawncrest Rec wasn’t officially in session until Ms. Biello brought out her hot dog roller — one of those machines that cooks hot dogs on motorized wheels. She’d post up by the snack stand and sell the concessions as a way to raise money for the center.

“I feel in my heart and soul, her plan was never to leave,” said Alice Dignam, part of the program staff at Lawncrest. “This was her heart and soul.”

Ms. Biello did receive her roses while alive. In addition to the gym dedication at Hallahan, which was short-lived because the school closed in 2021, staff at Lawncrest also named the gym after their favorite rec mom.

To family, Ms. Biello will be remembered for her strong faith, love of Lucy the Elephant, casinos (her one vice), a car trunk that seemed to hold endless treasures and trinkets for friends and family, as well as her love of sports — Ms. Biello participated in the senior olympics as recently as 2019.

Ms. Biello leaves her family with memories of driving to the Jersey shore and a love for pizza and wings.

“She was the rock of the family and connected everyone together,” said Ms. Biello’s niece, Judy Biello.

Ms. Biello is survived by siblings Anthony and Francis Biello, as well as her sister Kathleen Smith; 12 nieces and nephews with children of their own; and her best friend Sister Frances Christie. A sister, Margaret Houston, died earlier.

There will be a viewing Sunday, Jan. 2, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Burns Funeral Home. Another viewing will be held Monday, Jan. 3, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul with a Mass to follow.