The Story of the White Coats
The story of the White Coats begins, as so many meaningful De La Salle stories do, with service, family, and community.
Much of this history is carried through the memories of the Wolf family, reflecting on the years when Mike and RoseMarie Wolf were deeply involved at De La Salle High School and Carondelet. Like many parents of that era, they were not simply spectators in their children’s education. They showed up, worked hard, and gave whatever they could to help support the schools that helped shape their family.
For Mike and RoseMarie, that commitment was personal. They sent four sons through De La Salle and a daughter through Carondelet. Making that possible required sacrifice, creativity, and a willingness to contribute in every way available. Volunteer work was part of how families helped make ends meet, but it became much more than that. For the Wolfs, and for many parents like them, service became a way of belonging.
In the late 1970s, De La Salle was already a close-knit community with strong traditions around school events, fall festivals, basketball, baseball, and football. Mike and RoseMarie were active members of the DLS Parents Association, familiar faces at the many gatherings that brought families together and helped support the school. Their involvement naturally grew as their sons became more active in sports.
Around 1978, Mike’s connection with De La Salle athletics deepened through Chuck Lafferty, who was serving as athletic director and baseball coach. Chuck and Mike had come to know each other through the school community, and through that relationship, Mike became increasingly involved in the behind-the-scenes work that made athletic events possible.
At first, the work was simple and practical. The snack shack had to be cleaned and prepared before the season. During the offseason, it had often become a storage space, filled with dust, debris, and the occasional sign of unwanted visitors. Summer after summer, Mike and RoseMarie helped transform it back into a welcoming hub for game day. (The original “clean up day.” ) Outside, volunteers grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Inside, others served nachos, candy, and the familiar food that became part of the Saturday tradition.
But the snack shack was only one piece of what was needed.
The field had to be ready. Gates needed ticket takers. The chains had to move with every down. Events needed organization, energy, and dependable volunteers. As De La Salle athletics grew, especially football, so did the need for a committed group of parents who could help bring it all to life.
This was the beginning of what would become the White Coats.
Mike Wolf became one of the central figures in organizing that effort. He reached out to men and families he knew well from the St. Agnes, De La Salle, and Carondelet community. Jim “Colonel” Gerard, Dick Alden, Phil Lamoureux, Bill Brown, and Dave and Jackie Gagliardi were central to those early years. Together, they formed the nucleus of a volunteer group that would become a visible and lasting part of De La Salle tradition.
The timing was significant. In 1977, Ed Hall was still the head football coach. In 1978, Mike and RoseMarie’s son Pat attended De La Salle. In 1979, De La Salle hired Bob Ladouceur as head football coach, a decision that would later become legendary in high school athletics. Mike served on the committee of parents and faculty that interviewed candidates for that position, an example of how invested parents were in the future of the school and its young men.
As De La Salle football grew under Bob Ladouceur, the need for organization and volunteer support grew with it. The White Coats were there for the football games, but their work was never limited to football. They supported events across the school community. Basketball, baseball, festivals, fundraisers, and gatherings of all kinds benefited from their presence. They helped where help was needed.
One of the most visible and cherished examples of that service came at De La Salle home basketball games. For many years, Jim Gerard, Phil Lamoureux, and Dick Alden served as the ticket takers at the entry to home games. They took great pride in that role. Long after their sons had graduated, they continued to show up, greet families, welcome students, and represent De La Salle with warmth and dignity. To many people, seeing those men at the door became part of the basketball game experience itself. They were not just checking tickets. They were part of the tradition. They were familiar faces, steady hands, and living examples of what parent volunteerism at De La Salle was meant to be.
Under Athletic Director Tom Bowen, the role of the White Coats expanded even further. They became more than sideline helpers or game-day workers. They became the public face of volunteerism at De La Salle: a visible symbol of welcome, generosity, school pride, and service.
Many fathers and families followed in the footsteps of those early volunteers. Bill Gallagher, Gary Mazotti, Bill Roberts, Al Serafino, Jim Weyland, Jim Garcelon and many others gave their time and energy in the same spirit. Some were helping offset tuition. Some were simply giving back. Most were doing both. What united them was a shared belief that De La Salle was worth serving, and that their children’s education was worth every hour of work they could give.
RoseMarie’s contribution should never be overlooked. She worked long and hard alongside Mike and was every bit a part of the effort. The story of the White Coats is often told through the fathers who wore the coats, but behind that tradition were mothers, wives, and families who supported the same mission. RoseMarie, along with women like Jackie Gagliardi, Bonnie Gallagher, Marilou Mazotti, Donna Hannigan, and many others, helped make it possible. Their service reflected the same generosity, strength, and commitment that defined the early White Coat families’ relationship with De La Salle and Carondelet.
The original group left a legacy that continued long after their years of active service.
Dick Alden passed away in 2005 at the age of 82. His obituary noted his decades-long service as a member of the De La Salle White Coats, a lasting testament to his commitment to the school and its traditions.
Jim “Colonel” Gerard, a retired United States Marine, passed away in 2015 at the age of 91. His obituary reflected the pride he took in his connection to De La Salle and Carondelet, noting that he was part of the first group of White Coats and had been honored by the school for 30 years of service.
Phil Lamoureux passed away in 2023 at the age of 91. He was remembered as one of the original White Coats, honoring his 22 years of support for Spartan sporting events and the spirit of service he helped establish.
Mike Wolf passed away in 2023 at the age of 84. His service to De La Salle continued well into decades of activism, through the graduation of his youngest son. Though he eventually stepped away from active White Coat duties, his connection to the program never truly ended. He returned often to watch his grandson, Nico, play football, and he was welcomed back like family. Under Tom Bruce, the latest leader of the White Coats, Mike was treated with the kind of respect and affection reserved for someone who had helped build the tradition from the beginning.
For Pat (’80), Tom (‘82), Gina (‘85), Joe (‘86), and their late brother Frank (‘90), this story is a source of deep pride. Their parents’ work was not simply volunteerism. It was sacrifice. It was love. It was how Mike and RoseMarie helped provide their children with the gift of a De La Salle and Carondelet education.
The White Coats began with parents doing what needed to be done. They cleaned, cooked, carried, organized, welcomed, and served. Over time, that practical service became a tradition. Today, many fathers and families continue to play that same role, carrying forward the example set by The Old Guard. In a true full circle moment, Gina now serves the De La Salle community as a White Coat.
What began as a way to support events, offset tuition, and help the school community has become something lasting. The White Coats remain a reminder that De La Salle’s traditions were built not only by coaches, teachers, and students, but also by parents who gave their time, their labor, and their hearts.
And among those founding families, the Wolf family can always be proud that Mike and RoseMarie helped start something that still matters today.
Ever wonder why they are called the White Coats? When Chuck Lafferty asked Mike Wolf to get a group together to serve and support, Mike needed a way for others to know who to turn to. So, Chuck authorized the cost for white wind breakers...thus, The White Coats.
From Tom Bruce
The Whitecoat Team in today’s form comprises 40+ men and women who continue to serve the Customer Service ideals established by the earlier Volunteers who set the tone of “giving back”.
Leaders who took the reins of the Teams through the years are Ray Barbour, Stan Tankersley, Chris Rodriguez, Rick Ananos and Tom Bruce. With the assistance of Val Ennis and her Ticketing Team, our Community and Guests come to any DLS Athletic Event or other School gathering, they are greeted with a heartfelt welcome, well organized and executed in the Lasallian Spirit of Service.
The Legacy of caring lives on with the contribution of the Whitecoat Team.
