Lemont brothers play tough in tough times

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:10PM

When the Lemont High School summer football workouts were completed in late

July, senior Denny McAuliffe and sophomore brother Tim joined several

members of their family on a hiking trip to Lake Tahoe in California.

"We were hiking in the mountains and having a great time," Denny said. "My

74-year-old grandmother (Diane Sheehy) was right there hiking with us. I

felt so proud walking right by her side. It was an amazing feeling. It was a

great vacation."

Side-by-side, apparently, is the way the McAuliffes like to do things.

Denny, the Indians' right tackle, lines up next to Tim, the right guard.

"When you're watching your kids during the game, it's easier to follow their

progress when they're right next to each other in the offensive line," Denis

McAuliffe, the boys' father, said. "This was the first time they were on the

same team together."

For Denny and Tim's grandma, it didn't matter where they were on the playing

field. She would be watching, cheering each and every move.

She never missed a game - through Oct. 1.

Just days after watching Lemont rally past Tinley Park, she complained of

back pain. On Oct. 26, Mrs. Sheehy passed away, succumbing to melanoma, a

type of skin cancer.

On Friday, Mrs. Sheehy, who was the mother of nine, grandmother of 20 and

wife to Edward for 54 years, was waked at Sheehy Funeral Home in Orland

Park. On Saturday, she was laid to rest at Good Shepherd Cemetery.

Denny and Tim were among the pallbearers. And at 6 p.m., they were in the

trenches for Lemont's 23-14 win over Batavia in a Class 6A playoff game.

"When you're 17, you don't think about death," Denny said. "It was a very

surreal, emotional weekend. At the wake on Friday, a lot of our teammates

were there wearing Lemont jerseys. That meant a lot to us."

Dozens of family members were in the stands for the game - and on the

sideline. Their uncle, Mark Skowronski, is a Lemont assistant coach.

"When Mrs. Sheehy passed away it was a tough time for the boys," Lemont

coach Eric Michaelsen said. "But their teammates supported them. Both boys

knew that their coaches were there for them. If they needed someone to talk

to, we were there for them. To carry those emotions into Saturday's playoff

game was difficult, but I felt they both played extremely well. They handled

the entire experience better than most anyone could have."

Perhaps it was simply a matter of behaving as their grandmother would have

liked.

"Me and my brother were so honored to be asked to be pallbearers," Denny

said. "We had so much respect for our grandmother.

"Even when she was in the hospital, she wanted to know the scores of the

games. She always knew the opposing team's record and who we were playing

next in the playoffs. Two years ago, when we were in the state championship

game in Champaign and I was a sophomore standing on the sidelines, she was

there.

"When we had playoff games on the road, Grandma was there to support us. She

was our baby sitter when we were little. She was the best grandma a kid

could ever have. It was very hard to say goodbye to her."

Denis, whose wife Coleen was one of seven Sheehy girls to graduate from

Queen of Peace, was proud of the way his sons dealt with a difficult

weekend.

"They showed so much maturity," he said. "They paid their last respects to

a grandmother they dearly loved in the morning and then focused on their

football duties that night. That's not an easy thing to do. Diane would have

been very proud of them."

After a memorial luncheon Saturday, Skowronski took Denny and Tim to the

school.

"When we ran on the football field Saturday night, it was hard to believe

that Grandma wasn't sitting in the bleachers," Denny said. "We dedicated the

game and the rest of the season to her. It was so cool to see all of our

aunts, uncles, cousins, sister (Courtney) and parents there supporting us.

Grandma would have loved that."

During a moment of silence before the game, Denny and Tim could feel the

presence of their grandmother.

"Grandma was there rooting for us," Denny said. "She had the best seat in

the house."

When Lemont hosts Geneva in Saturday's second-round playoff game, the

McAuliffe boys have no doubt she'll be watching again.

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