Edward “Duke” Narcavage

• Post by: mcalibrary
• January 3, 2024
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INDUCTEE

Ed “Duke” Narcavage was born one of eight choldren of John and Josephine Narcavage and has lived in Mount Carmel all of his life. He attended Mount Carmel High School and was one of the few four-year lettermen in football at that time. Duke played on the 42, 43, 44 and 45 Tornado football teams under head coach Joe Ambrose, posting a 28-10-7 record. Duke played both fullback and guard for those teams and was elected captain for the 1945 squad. That team would be the first team in Mount Carmel history to play 12 games in a season with the addition of a post season benefit game with Mount Carmel Township that ended in a 0-0 tie. One of the highlights of Duke’s career came in 1944 when in a game with Shenandoah, Duke threw a 43 yard touchdown pass to Ed “Smokey” Kobilis with less than 2 minutes to play to give the Tornadoes a 14-12 win.

Ed also won three varsity letters for Coach Gerald Breslin’s track teams and was the 155 lb. Intramural wrestling champion as the war canceled the varsity season.

Following graduation, Ed played with semi pro Anthracite Maroons in 1948 and the Tri-Boro Eagles in 1949. He also served as a line coach at Mount Carmel Catholic High School during the 1948-1950 seasons.

Although he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950, Ed never lost the taste of athletic competition. He played football with the U.S. Army 43rd Division as a starting guard and won the European Championship in 1951. He was discharged from the army as a Master Sargent in 1952 and returned to coaching at Catholic High from 1953 through 1955.

In 1963, he was encouraged to start a Little League for Football at Holy Spirit School and became the team’s first coach. An unfortunate accident in 1964 cut short a promising coaching career for health reasons.

Ed continued his interest in sports when as a Mount Carmel Area School Director in 1969, he was instrumental in obtaining the funding for the new field house, new press box, rest room facilities and the first “new” goal post in the region at the time. Narcavage was also instrumental in obtaining the funding and the purchase of the property now occupied by the current Mount Carmel Area School District.

Ed is married to the former Marie Trocki and is the father of five children: Mary, Joseph, Edward, Judith and Celine and is the grandfather of nine. All that he ever asked of his players was to “share your talents, pass them on to the young: if not by your words, then by your actions”. Duke certainly has followed his own words, especially by his actions.