Ray Cioe
Ray Cioe

Induction Year

1993

Inductee Type

Gene Young Service Award

Sport

A 1932 graduate of Muskegon High School, Cioe served Muskegon Catholic Central for over 25 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director and business manager.  He received his start in coaching as a volunteer assistant football coach at Muskegon Central Junior High in 1933.  In 1950 he joined the staff of St. Jean’s High School as an assistant basketball coach.  With the merger of the area’s three Catholic schools into Muskegon Catholic Central in 1953, Cioe was put in charge of the junior high school athletic program.  In 1954, he served MCC as a study hall supervisor, and handled the Crusader frosh football squad.

Presented with the opportunity to teach, he returned to school in 1956, taking extension courses at Muskegon Community College and Aquinas College.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Michigan University in 1966 at the age of 52.

Cioe retired from MCC in 1979, but his ties to the school remained strong.  “Catholic Central is what he talked about all the time,” noted his sister Teresa Cioe, “and that’s where he went every day.”  In 1986, the school showed its appreciation with the formal dedication of the school’s gymnasium in his name.

Yet Cioe’s volunteer work was not strictly limited to Catholic Central.  A devoted fan of baseball, for years he managed teams in the Greater Muskegon Little League, American Legion, and Connie Mack circuits.  In 1989, he was honored for 35 years of service as a volunteer worker at city track meets.  In 1993, he was honored with posthumous induction into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

High School

Muskegon High School 1932

College

Western Michigan University