The Agganis Foundation : 56 Years and Going Strong

The Agganis Foundation honoring the late Harry Agganis, arguably the greatest athlete to come out of this city in the 20th century, is celebrating 56 years of honoring athletic excellence and of giving scholarship money to scholar-athletes.

The all-star games are being played this week.

The scholarships were presented Sunday.

By doing so for the past 56 years, the Agganis Foundation has honored the memory of Harry Agganis.

Agganis died in 1955 at the age of 26 of a pulmonary embolism.

He was a Red Sox star at the time of his death, which caused the largest funeral cortege and Mass in this city’s long history.

Agganis wasn’t just a flash in the pan. He was the real thing in every way.

He was a young Greek man who grew up here, who played sports at Lynn Classical and who went on to excel at Boston University before joining the Red Sox.

Fifty-six years later, the Agganis Foundation is stronger every year and touches more people in a good way than ever before.

With Thomas Demakis, Esq. as chairman and Ted Grant as President and Paul Halloran as Executive Director of the Agganis Classics Committee, the foundation is flourishing and reaching in new directions.

And now the Yawkey Foundation, named after the longtime late owner of the Red Sox Tom Yawkey, has come to make a major donation each year, along with the Demakis Family, the Gamages, the Cahills and the Zimmans.

The Agganis Foundation has shown over the decades the kind of commitment that should make everyone in Lynn proud that they come from this city.

Harry Agganis has been gone since 1955 but his legend survives, the foundation in his name grows and dozens of young scholar-athletes from year to year are benefactors of his legacy.

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