Lorraine Oddo, wife of legendary Charlotte Catholic coach, was a force behind the scenes
Jim Oddo coached Charlotte Catholic High football for 41 years and his wife Lorraine was there for every step of the way, embracing the Cougar program behind the scenes.
“She supported the football program in so many ways,” said Mike Brodowicz, who was a longtime assistant to Oddo and then replaced him when he retired in 2014. “If you saw Coach Oddo somewhere, you saw Lorraine too.”
Lorraine Pace Oddo died June 29 at age 88. Her death came a little more than 3 years after her husband of 63 years died in March 2021.
Jim Oddo was the son of Italian immigrants, reared in Delaware. Lorraine was a Nash County native. But they met in college, when Jim was playing football at N.C. State. These college sweethearts were married in 1958.
Jim Oddo coached high school football in Florida and then at East Mecklenburg, but he left the coaching profession to sell insurance, saying a coaching career wouldn’t pay the bills for he, his wife, and their five children.
Lorraine Oddo said several years ago that she urged her husband to return to coaching, because that was what he really enjoyed.
Jim Oddo took over the Charlotte Catholic program in 1973 and compiled a 358-145-2 record, winning three state championships. At the time of his retirement, he was the winningest high school football coach in North Carolina.
His wife was a regular at all the Cougar games and at every other football-related event.
“She treated all of us coaches like her kids,” Brodowicz said.
In Lorraine Oddo’s obituary, family members said she completed enough college classwork for a master’s degree but never finished it, instead focusing her energy on her family and Charlotte Catholic football.
A funeral Mass for Lorraine Oddo is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Parkway. A private interment will follow.
Friends and others with ties to the Charlotte Catholic football program are invited to a celebration of life from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at South Charlotte Banquet Center, 9009 Bryant Farms Road, in southeast Charlotte.