With a 165-77 record, Robert A. Madding led the Barrington High School boys basketball team to more wins than any other coach in the school’s history.
“He had high expectations and demanded a lot of his teams,” said Bob Carpenter, the high school’s current athletic director. “As a coach he was very tough and disciplined.”
As boys head basketball coach from 1954 to 1964, Mr. Madding was a “super coach,” Carpenter said. In fact, no other basketball coach at the school has won more than 100 games, he said.
The retired basketball coach and athletic director at Barrington High, Mr. Madding, 78, died of organ failure Sunday, April 21, in his Barrington home.
Born and raised on a farm in Richland Center, Wis., Mr. Madding graduated from Richland Center High School. In 1942 he joined the Navy. During World War II he transmitted radio messages on a battleship in the South Pacific.
On returning to the U.S., he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin at Madison and obtained a master’s degree in science and physical education.
His first teaching job was at Evansville High School in Wisconsin, where he taught physical education and coached basketball and baseball. After his second year there, he was called to serve in the Korean War.
In 1953 Mr. Madding joined the staff at Barrington High School, where he taught science and coached baseball and basketball.
From 1971 until his retirement in 1987, he served as the high school’s athletic director. And in 1977 he oversaw the high school’s transition from being a member of the North Suburban League to the Mid-Suburban League.
At the time Barrington High School was one of the largest schools in the North Suburban League, and many of its freshman and junior-varsity teams didn’t have teams to compete against, Carpenter said. The move to the Mid-Suburban League changed that, he said.
“It was a big move, but the right move. It stepped up our competition,” Carpenter said.
After retiring from the high school, Mr. Madding continued cheering on the school’s teams.
“He just loved competitive sports and still followed the Barrington teams and kept in touch with his former players,” said his daughter, Margaret Jane Rockwood.
An avid sportsman, Mr. Madding enjoyed hunting and fishing in Wisconsin and Canada and on the Great Lakes and the Florida coast. While employed at Barrington High School, Mr. Madding also managed a private hunting club in McHenry County.
Other survivors include his wife, Virginia; a son, Thomas; and five grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in Davenport Family Funeral Home, 149 W. Main St., Barrington. Services will be private.
