"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Former MU asst coach, Trey Schwab, has passed away

I was saddened to learn that Trey Schwab passed away today.  He had been fighting for his life while waiting for another lung transplant, but had been in touch via social media with many of us over the years and last few months.  


A wonderful man, so genuine to the core.  Not a nicer person that you could ever meet.  He would call me in my early days at DIRECTV to get the MU basketball team hooked up with satellite on the road, so he could scout various games as a member of Tom Crean's staff.  It was always good to catch up with Trey, get his two cents on the team and the prospects for success on the court.

When it was learned he would need a transplant, the MU and UW communities responded.  He underwent double lung transplant surgery and suffered a heart attack while recovering.  That would be only the beginning as a major blood clot left him dead on an operating table for 40 minutes, with no pulse.  Somehow he survived....and thrived.  

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/saraceno/2004-03-25-marquette-schwab_x.htm

After coaching, he spent the last 11 years working for the Donate Life Wisconsin, where the state finally had an official organ registry program in 2010, thanks in large part to Trey's efforts.

Fox 6 News in Milwaukee had recently done an interview with Trey by MU's own Tim Van Vooren
http://fox6now.com/2016/03/20/trey-schwab-a-familiar-face-to-marquette-university-basketball-fans-has-passed-away/


A few articles we wrote about Trey over the years on Cracked Sidewalks.  


http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2013/02/the-gift-of-lifetrey-schwab9-years-later.html

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2005/08/mu-news-and-notes.html

RIP Trey

Your friend, JD




1 comment:

Unknown said...

I was missing Trey more than usual today and searched for articles to read about him, as I always enjoy reading what others say about his character. Thank you for what you wrote, as we both know, so true. I was his companion, I would like to send you the card we had for the memorial services - please send me your contact info at dbenj0025@comcast.net.