Jimmy Lynch was a lot of things – a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.

But Lynch will be remembered by so many as ‘coach.’

Lynch, who passed away peacefully at his Cranston home on May 6, dedicated the majority of his life to coaching and mentoring athletes on the football field and in the pool.

Over his 56-year coaching career, Lynch endured successful stints as a football coach at Cranston East, Cranston West, Portsmouth, La Salle and Salve Regina University.

However, he encountered the most success as the swim coach of Cranston West, leading the Falcons to five state titles and one New England Swim Championship. Because of this, it came as no surprise that Lynch was inducted into the Rhode Island Aquatics Hall of Fame in 1984.

Lynch called it a career in the mid 2000’s, but even after he stopped coaching, his athletes continued to come visit him and continued to call him coach.

Speaking with Jimmy’s son, Gary, he felt that the life-long relationships that he developed with his athletes was part of who he was, as he was not only a coach, but a mentor to so many.

“His players were active in coming back to see him,” Gary Lynch said. “They would thank him for the men and women that they are today. The biggest reward for my dad was having players come back to see him.”

In fact, for Jimmy’s 90th birthday, a group of his players came back to Cranston to throw their coach a surprise celebration, just to give a glimpse into how much he was loved.

“That touched him dearly,” Gary Lynch said.

So it goes without saying that the outreach from his athletes has been overwhelming for the Lynch family in recent days.

“The outpouring from his players has been terrific,” Gary Lynch said.

Gary recalls that his father was an outstanding motivational speaker, with the ability to pump up any team that he had in a locker room.

But he did it in a respectful manner – never swearing at his team.

“He was more of a gentleman than anything else,” Gary Lynch said.

Jimmy will leave a great legacy of coaching, as he was an extremely prominent sports figure in Cranston.

“His mentoring and teaching reflect his life’s work,” Gary Lynch said. “He passes along quite a legacy and a life.”

Gary, who resides in West Orange, N.J., is an actor and recently visited Rhode Island as a cast member in the production of “Dirty Dancing,” which took place at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Entertainment writer Don Fowler caught up with Gary at the time, and recalls that the actor spoke mostly about his father, disregarding any individual achievement.

“He talked more about his father’s career and legacy than he did about himself,” Fowler said. “He was thrilled that he had a chance to spend time with his father during the show’s run in Providence, and that Jimmy had a rare opportunity to see him perform.”

Jimmy graduated from Central High School, where he had outstanding careers in football, wrestling and track, before going on to do the same at Arnold College, where he graduated in 1948.

Jimmy was married to Norma Cianci Lynch for 67 years.

He is survived by four sons – James, Gary, John and Brian.