LAFAYETTE – A funeral service is Saturday in Broussard for Jeff Hennessy, a 2007 Graduate N Club Hall of Fame inductee for his impact as an internationally-renowned gymnastics coach, including from 1957-59 at Northwestern State, his alma mater.
 
Hennessy, 85, died Tuesday after an extended illness. David's Funeral Home of Broussard was completing arrangements Wednesday, but plans were for a funeral service at the funeral home on Saturday and a memorial service next week in his hometown of Monroe.
 
Graduate N Club Hall of Fame status is the highest honor conferred for athletic achievement at Northwestern State. The N Club is the association of athletic letterwinners at NSU.
 
Under Hennessy's tutelage from 1957-59, the Demons took home three straight Mid-South Intercollegiate championships as well as both the Southern and Southwestern AAU championships in 1958. He had bachelor's (1951) and master's (1958) education degrees from NSU.
 
He was inducted in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1992 based on his work at NSU, UL Lafayette and with the U.S. gymnastics program.
 
Hennessy was internationally regarded as a trailblazer in the sport of trampoline, coaching numerous world and national champions and serving as United States team coach from 1964 to 1980.  He also played a key role in getting trampoline accepted into the Olympic Games.
 
He earned his education degree from Northwestern State in 1951 and a master's in education in 1958.
 
While an undergradate at NSU, Hennessy was a member of the swimming and gymnastics teams.  He won the Southern AAU National springboard diving championship twice and was introduced to trampoline through George Nissen, the inventor of the modern trampoline. 
 
After working as a math and social studies teacher, as well as a football and track coach in the Ouachita Parish School system in Monroe, Hennessy returned to Northwestern as an instructor of physical education and coach of the university's swimming, diving, and gymnastics teams.
 
In 1959, Hennessy moved to Lafayette and joined the UL Lafayette faculty. He was director of the gymnastics and trampoline programs, quickly establishing the trampoline program as the best in the world and bringing international acclaim to the city and university.
 
Hennessy was instrumental in establishing the first trampoline World Championships, which were held in London, England, in 1964.  He hosted the 1966 World Championships in Lafayette, and in 2014 he was a distinguished guest at the 50^th anniversary World Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.  In addition, he was a member of the United States Olympic Committee for Gymnastics. 
 
As a coach, Hennessy led the U.S. team in nine World Championships.  His athletes won a total of 26 world championship medals.  Most notable among his athletes were his daughter, Leigh Hennessy, who won two world championships; national champion and 1969 Miss America Judith Ford; world champion and 1984 Olympic diving medalist Ron Merriott; world champions Don Waters, Gary Smith, Bobby Neely, Jim Cartledge, and Wayne Miller; and national champions Jimmy Yongue and Stuart Ransom.  
 
His athletes won more national championships than he was able to recall.  As a measure of his accomplishments, his gym on the UL Lafayette campus produced more world and national trampoline champions than anywhere else in the nation.  In addition, his gymnastics team was undefeated in 1960 and 1961, and the trampoline team was National AAU Champions from 1964 to 1975 and 1979 to 1981. 
 
Hennessy was named a Distinguished Professor in 1982 and retired from the UL Lafayette faculty in 1986.  He wrote three books and numerous articles about trampoline.  Among his many awards were membership in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, the World Acrobatics Society Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Trampoline Association Hall of Fame.  He was also named the Amateur Athletic Union Outstanding Coach of the Year in 1970 and 1972 and the American Trampoline and Tumbling Association Outstanding Coach of the Year in 1982. 
 
"Coach," as he was affectionately known around the world, is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruth Hennessy of Broussard; his son Jefferson T. Hennessy Jr. of Houston; his daughter Leigh Hennessy of New Orleans; his daughter Kay Hennessy of Phoenix; and numerous friends and family in the Monroe area.
 
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the "Jeff T. Hennessy Award" that was established by the USA Gymnastics Foundation in 2003 to provide scholarships for trampoline and tumbling athletes.  To make a donation, please mail to: The Hennessy Scholarship Fund, c/o USA Gymnastics, 132 E. Washington St., Ste. 700, Indianapolis, IN 46204.