Late football coach Vince Lombardi raised two kids, Susan and Vince Lombardi. He also has seven grown grandchildren.
Lombardi is recognized as one of the iconic football coaches in the National Football League. He left the world on September 3, 1970, but left many memories for football fans. Lombardi was mainly known for his stint with the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s.
In addition to the Packers winning the first two Super Bowls at the end of the 1966 and 1967 NFL seasons, he guided them to three consecutive and five overall NFL Championships in seven years. Moreover, the coach never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL.
Besides Lombardi’s career, his family life also remained a big part of the national news. He was married to Marie Lombardi, with whom he raised two dynamic children. Continue to know more about his family life in the sections below.
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Vince Lombardi Fathered Two Kids
Vince Lombardi was the father of two children, Susan and Vince Lombardi Jr.
The Packer coach met his children’s mom, Marie Planitz, in 1934. He was introduced to his wife by his roommate, Jim Lawlor. Eventually, Vince and Marie fell in love and married on August 31, 1940.
The initial year of Vince’s marriage turned into tragedy as he lost his first child from miscarriage. Naturally, this affected the mental health of his wife. Finally, however, in 1942, his wife got pregnant again, and Vincent Henry Lombardi (Vince Jr.) was born. Likewise, after five years, Susan also arrived in the couple’s life.
Marie had said in one of her infamous interviews. She recalled: “Vince seemed preoccupied with his job even on their honeymoon and cut it short to get back to Englewood. So I was not married to him more than one week’, she later related, ‘when I said to myself, Marie Planitz, you’ve made the greatest mistake of your life.”
Despite seeing coldness in their parent’s relationship, Susan and Vince Lombardi Jr. remained close to their dad.
Vincent Lombardi Jr
Being the late Vincent T. Lombardi’s son, regarded as one of the best football coaches in history, Vince Jr grew up in a culture that valued individual success and authority. As a result, he was involved in politics and law during his initial days.
Before turning to professional football, Vince Lombardi Jr. played collegiate football, worked as a lawyer and served as a state senator in Minnesota. In addition, he served as the Seattle Seahawks’ associate general manager, assistant executive director of the National Football League Management Council, and labor negotiator.
Vince Jr also served as president and general manager of two United States Football League teams. He currently gives motivational speeches.
Vince Jr started working as the general manager’s assistant with the young Seattle Seahawks. He eventually worked as a labor negotiator for the National Football League Management Council. After that, he rose to the position of President and General Manager of two United States Football League teams.
When Vince passed away from cancer in 1970 at age 57, Vince Jr. and his father were starting to reconcile their strain.
At present times, Vince Jr is active on social media platforms. His Twitter handle is @vlombardijr, and he has 2,389 followers. Additionally, his bio suggests he hosts the Vin & Mike Podcast on The Pigskin Network.
Susan Lombardi
Susan Lombardi was the only daughter of Vince Lombardi. She briefly visited Green Bay in the early 1980s and was a big Packers fan. However, she spent most of her life in Florida.
According to the Greenbay Press Gazzatte, the Lombardis moved to Green Bay in 1959, the same month Susan turned 12. She attended St. Joseph Academy, an all-girls school in Green Bay that later merged with other schools to become Notre Dame Academy High School.
Vince Lombardi’s daughter left the world in Atlantic Beach, Florida, on December 30, 2020, at 73. She was the second of the coach’s two kids, arriving on the scene in 1947, five years after Vince Jr.
Press-Gazette editor Tony Walter spoke with Susan at the Super Bowl XLV in Dallas after the Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. She was known as Susie by her Green Bay pals.
Her words are as follows: “This is wonderful. It makes me think that when we had home games (in Green Bay), I’d go someplace with my friends to get away from my parents, and then we’d caravan to the game. Now we’re going to bring that (Lombardi) trophy to where it belongs.”
One of Susan’s daughters is Maggie Lombardi, who says her mother had the best smile and laugh. She also said that Susan was fond of water and boating.
Vince Lombardi Has Seven Grandchildren
Vince Lombardi has seven grandchildren born out of his two kids. But unfortunately, he passed away in 1970 and could not see all of them.
Lombardi’s daughter, Susan, was married and had three children. She also had four granddaughters of her own.
Little is known about Susan’s children as she remained out of the spotlight, unlike her father and brother. However, she had been residing in Jacksonville and maintained relationships with a few Packers players who genuinely cared about and supported her. Thus, she is remembered as a die-hard Packers supporter.
Meanwhile, Lombardi’s son, Vince Jr, had four children, including football coach Joe Lombardi.
Joe Lombardi was born on June 6, 1971. He is the youngest of Vince Jr’s sons and arrived in this world a year after the demise of his infamous grandfather. Joe lived in Washington, New York, and Michigan. He played high school football at Seattle Prep and graduated in 1990
Midway through the 2015 campaign, Joe was let go from this job. He previously served as the New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach. He assisted the Saints in winning the trophy that bore his grandfather’s name in 2009 and helped Drew Brees win the MVP of the Super Bowl.
Under the direction of new head coach Brandon Staley, he is now the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator. He also coached Drew Brees while serving as the Saints’ quarterbacks coach for the 2010 NFL season.
Vince Lombardi Family Tree
Vince Lombardi has an impressive family tree. He was born to his father, Enrico “Harry” Lombardi, and mother, Matilda.
His parents were Italians. His paternal grandparents, Vincenzo and Michelina, are immigrants from Salerno, Italy. Similarly, his maternal grandparents, Anthony and Loretta, left Vietri di Potenza in Basilicata. His mother had twelve siblings, whereas his father had three.
Before 2000, Anthony, Matilda’s father, established a barbershop in Sheepshead Bay. Lombardi was born while Harry and his brother Eddie founded a butcher shop in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. As a result, Vince and his family grew up in an ethnically diverse, middle-class neighborhood.
When Vince was younger, he worked in his father’s butcher business. The Lombardi men of Vince’s generation, though, had other callings. So they continued their education and fled the neighborhoods they had grown up in.
The iconic coach was born the oldest in a family of five children. Madeleine, Harold, Claire, and Joe were his four siblings.
From his marriage, two children were born, Susan and Vince Lombardi Jr., And from his children, he became the grandfather of seven kids.
Among his grandchildren, Joe Lombardi has followed in the family’s footsteps. He is also married to his wife, Molly, and has seven great-grandchildren of Vince Lombardi: four sons and three daughters.
One of his great-granddaughters is Riley Lombardi, born to Joe. She plays soccer. Similarly, Joe Jr also plays as a tightened for the University of Louisiana Lafayette.
The family is Catholic, and football has remained constant throughout the generations. Vince himself was an altar boy at St. Mark’s Catholic Church. He started as an assistant coach before becoming the head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. Before taking over as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967 and the Washington Redskins in 1969, he
Vince was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after their demise. Also, the NFL Super Bowl trophy was named in his honor.
There were speculations that Vince was related to Mick Lombardi, but they only shared a common surname.
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