Joe Reyda, the longtime athletic director at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., died suddenly on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at his home in Kensington, Maryland. He was 55.

Reyda was a pillar of the Gonzaga College High School community. He graduated from the Jesuit-sponsored high school in 1985. After graduating from The Catholic University of America in Washington, he  returned to Gonzaga and served as the school’s athletic director for 22 years. He worked at Gonzaga for 34 years, including 18 years coaching football and nine years coaching golf. During his years as athletic director there, Gonzaga won 183 championships. This summer, an article in the Washington Post’s sports section ranked Gonzaga as having the top athletic program for boys’ private schools in the area.

Casey O’Neill, who graduated from Gonzaga in 1996, was the assistant athletic director with Reyda from 2007 until 2021. Their relationship started when O’Neill was a student at Gonzaga and played on the football team. Reyda was the football coach, as well as assistant dean of students, at the time.

O’Neill is currently the vice president at Mabry Academy, a program that aims to assist students in their athletic and personal development. He and others recalled Reyda’s professional legacy at Gonzaga. Many fondly remembered “lunches with Joe” where he would take the time to speak with fellow coaches and faculty in his office. 

O’Neill said he found himself scrolling through memories of he and Reyda at events and playing golf, but there is one regular event he wished they had documented.

“I wish someone had taken a photo of us at lunch for some weird reason,” O’Neill said. “That's what sticks out to me. It was just lunch with Joe every day, every single day. Sometimes we talked and laughed about a football game over the weekend or something and other [days] not a word was said – and they were all the same and they're all awesome.” 

As athletic director, Reyda had an extensive array of responsibilities. There are 17 different sports that Gonzaga students can participate in, and more than 40 different teams at different levels. This means there are more than 100 coaches. O’Neill said he will always remember Reyda’s dedication to his job.

“He was just as proud of the kid who was on the freshman basketball team, as he was for the kid that hit the varsity game-winning home run,” O’Neill said. “He just loved that place, he loved the boys, he loved the school, he loved his family.”

O’Neill said Reyda set the example on how to be an effective leader.

“He kept it consistent. Less is more; he didn’t need to do a million things, he just kept it the way it was. And that’s how I learned it, and that’s how I evolved. Just do your job, show up, be good to people, and that was Joe,” O’Neill said. 

O’Neill remembered Reyda’s teams – he was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, despite not being from the area, and he followed the New York Yankees due to a connection from college. Reyda, according to O’Neill, maintained many relationships at Gonzaga.

“He got along with every teacher, every person there,” O’Neill said. “Everybody loved this guy, everybody loved Joe.”

Thomas Every, the headmaster at Gonzaga, worked with Reyda for the last 14 years. 

“He was a good man and a good friend to myself and so many at the school and around the community, that this loss really cuts deep. He was someone who was very omnipresent, he was kind of always around,” Every said. 

Every said that students are “feeling a loss profoundly.”

“He was such a fixture at the school and around athletics, and such a cheerleader for our students that, even if they didn’t know him, they feel his absence or the community grief around his absence,” Every said.

He remembered Reyda as a “consummate sportsman.”

“He loved to win, all good athletic directors do, but whenever Gonzaga did not win, he never had a bad word to say about our play and always had a good word to say about our opponents play,” Every said. “That was just his outlook on sport, it was like ‘the best team won’ because that’s how sport works.”

Jim Kilroy, the assistant headmaster for student life at Gonzaga, has worked at the school for 16 years. He currently coaches the junior varsity golf team at the school. Kilroy said he worked closely with Reyda while he was a teacher and a coach.

“Joe was a great friend, first and foremost. He was absolutely easy to work with. He was so open to my role and to me personally, and ideas that I had for the athletic department,” Kilroy said. “I think what drove that for him was just his love of Gonzaga, and his love of our head coaches and our athletic programs as a whole. He always wanted what was best for it. Because of that, he was open to new ideas, new ways of thinking about how our coaches worked together.”

Reyda and Kilroy worked together to promote “a community of coaches” that communicate through department meetings and events like the school’s Coaches Day of Service. 

“Joe was special because of how loyal he was to the school… to the ideals of the school, to the group of coaches that he was working to support. He was so dependable. He was like the most reliable, most present employee, literally,” Kilroy said. “I think this year will be difficult expecting to see Joe in his normal spots at, at all the games. We'll be feeling that loss when these games happen this year.”

Golf was a big part of Reyda’s life, and he organized a coaches’ golf outing at the end of each school year. Kilroy, who played golf with Reyda, remembered how he enjoyed taking the time to pick the right foursomes for the event “just so [they] could have a great afternoon.”

“When you play golf with someone you inevitably spend a lot of time around them. Golf is four or five hours and we had played golf just a few weeks before he passed, twice actually,” Kilroy said. “Friendships can take it a whole new level. When you're spending that amount of time with somebody and there's insights into somebody when you're playing golf with them. Joe is just an absolute pleasure to be around in those moments and I will miss that for sure.”

Mike Hanagan has been the head golf coach at Gonzaga for the last seven years. Another Gonzaga alumni, Hanagan graduated in 2008. He said Reyda was crucial to expanding Gonzaga’s athletics offerings.

“My dad graduated from Gonzaga in 1966 and he's probably seen Joe at games for 35 or 40 years,” Hanagan said. 

According to Hanagan, Reyda was a “tireless worker” and that was “really inspiring.”

“When I was coaching a little basketball he would be here Saturday and Sunday mornings early. He would stay through practices, setting fields up, late games and then he would be walking in at 7:38 a.m. the next morning after being here the Tuesday, Wednesday night before,” Hanagan said. 

Reyda’s leadership extended beyond punctuality, as Hanagan said he was “fun to be around” and would support his coaches.

“As a coach, there are times when you second guess a decision and you have some doubt. Joe was always there to support you and give you a confidence boost, especially when you maybe didn’t even realize you needed it,” Hanagan said. “For me, when he would reaffirm a decision I made or say ‘let it go’ or ‘don't worry about it,’ it carried a ton of weight and you felt like you had the whole support of Gonzaga behind you.”

Reyda wrote daily and weekly emails to faculty and staff highlighting what was going on with Gonzaga’s athletics and upcoming events. During his time as athletic director, Reyda led Gonzaga to win a total of 165 championships. 

“The scope of his impact is almost immeasurable. I think that's pretty special,” Hanagan said.

Reyda is survived by his wife, Tricia Hayes Reyda, and their daughters Molly Reyda and Caroline Reyda. His Mass of Christian Burial was offered at St. Aloysius Church on Saturday, July 1.