Hall of Famer, former Kennedy Catholic baseball coach Joe Faccone dies

This post was updated with additional information on Thursday, April 11 at 4:00 p.m. Retired high school baseball coach Joe Faccone, who started Kennedy

This post was updated with additional information on Thursday, April 11 at 4:00 p.m.

Retired high school baseball coach Joe Faccone, who started Kennedy Catholic's program and won three state titles over 38 seasons, died this week, the school confirmed.

"During his almost 50 years at the school, Joe coaches and taught hundreds of students including Floyd Bannister, who went on to play professional baseball," read a statement released by Kennedy Catholic. "He touched the lives of thousands over his many decades of service in Catholic education."

The Seattle Times reported that he died on March 31 after a brief illness.

Faccone amassed 501 wins over the course of his career, which is the ninth-most in Washington high school state history, according to the Washington Baseball Poll. He also had four semifinal appearances, seven league titles and four coach of the year awards.

In 1992, Faccone was named to the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as an active coach. He would go on to win another state title at Kennedy in 1999. His first state championships came in 1973, three years after starting the program at Kennedy Catholic.

Faccone and his father, Dominic Faccone, were at the forefront of a construction of Kennedy Catholic's baseball field. It was named Faccone Field after the two in 2014.

He had coaching stints at Burien's Highline and Seattle's Our Lady of Mount Virgin before getting hired at Kennedy Catholic, where he was also a teacher throughout his coaching career. He retired in 2007.

A funeral service in Faccone's honor will take place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Mount Virgin Church in Seattle. An overflow crowd is expected, according to Kennedy Catholic athletic director Sam Reed.

Here is Faccone's obituary, courtesy of the school, which ran in The Seattle Times last weekend.Download