Diane Laffey had brunch last Sunday morning with about 300 ardent admirers.

By nature, she’s quiet, unassuming. However, she had no choice but to accept the invitation from the Regina High School Alumnae Association, who used the occasion of its annual Mass and brunch to pay tribute to Laffey for her 45 years of dedicated service to Regina.

And so, she had to face congregants in the chapel while the celebrant, Msgr. Ricardo Bass, praised her as “a role model” and “mentor.”

Before the buffet line opened, she was called on stage while Rosemary Wagner, the second baseman on the Saddlelites 2004 Class A state champs, recited a whole litany of kudos: “She’s synonymous with Regina;” “She makes others feel special;” “She leaves a legacy of hard work and dignity;” “She’s an inspiration to thousands.”

Wagner (Class of 2004), who has returned to Regina to teach science, afterward reflected on Laffey as her coach and now as a fellow staff member: “She’s the same then and now how she treats people. Everyone loves her.”

Ann Diamond (1994), hired three years ago as the school’s first lay principal, recalled: “I played JV basketball my freshman and sophomore years. Diane cut me from making the varsity as a junior. I remember her words: ‘Ann, you’re just too short.’”

Turning to Laffey, she laughed: “You should be careful how you treat students because, one day, they might be your boss.”

Diamond has no thoughts about “cutting” Laffey from her duties as coach, athletic director, phys-ed teacher, lunch room coordinator “and whatever else I ask her to do. She’s the first one in the building and the last one to leave.”

Laffey’s acknowledgment to all of this was brief. “This is a humbling experience,” she said. Quashing any notion that the event might also signal her retirement, she said, “I’ll be here a few more years. All of you — students, parents, alumni — you keep me young, you keep me focused, you keep me going.”

Laffey got going after her graduation in 1957 from Nativity High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit and, in 1972, a master’s in counseling from Wayne State.

Her coaching career started in 1962 at St. Anthony/East Catholic High School and continued at Regina in 1970. In that span of 53 years, Laffey is Michigan’s winningest high school softball coach with 1,071 wins, and her 620 victories in basketball rank her among the state’s top five.

She’s been inducted into nine halls of fame locally, statewide and nationally, including the Catholic League, softball and basketball coaches associations of Michigan, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Federation of High School Coaches.

She’d be a shoo-in if there were a Hall of Fame for hall of famers.

Laffey has guided Regina to four Catholic League titles in basketball and 10 in softball, and five state softball championships: Class A in 1989, and Division 1 four consecutive years, 2004-07.

Denise (Nicker) Raney (1989) remembers the ’89 title game. It went 17 grueling innings against Milford Lakeland. “I pitched all 17 innings,” she said.

The Saddlelites won the game, 5-4, in the bottom of the 17th. Christie (Burley) Lietzow (1990) blasted the ball over the right-fielder’s head, scoring Melissa Brozowski from first base.

“She was a motivator,” Raney said about Laffey. “You didn’t want to disappoint her.”

Lietzow, who is now one of Laffey’s softball assistants, added: “She has a tough exterior, but a heart of gold.”

I asked Laffey, “What has kept you here at Regina for 45 years?”

“The kids,” she said. “I love the kids at this age. I listen to them a lot. For instance, when I’m driving the bus, kids are oblivious to the driver, but I hear them talking about what they care about, what is worrying them. It helps me relate to them.”

Sr. Leanne Leszczynski, SSJ/TOSF, a name as synonymous with Regina as Laffey’s, 38 years principal and president for the last three, summed up Laffey’s talent for communicating with teens: “She has their respect because she respects them. It goes two ways.”

Yes, it’s mutual admiration: Laffey loves Regina, and Regina loves Laffey.

Don Horkey may be reached at [email protected].