Terry McCombs Obituary
Beloved husband of Joy Lynn McCombs (nee Witt), whom he married December 18, 1971, loving father of Jennifer L. McCombs of Woodridge and Kelly L. (Chris) Drevalas of Naperville, adored grandfather of Ashley and Taylor Drevalas, devoted son of the late Joseph and Marian (nee Aggen) McCombs, dear stepson of the late George F. Washburn, fond brother-in-law, nephew, cousin, uncle, great-uncle, coach and friend of many.
Terry grew up in Sterling and was a graduate of Rock Falls High School in 1965. He then attended Western Illinois University, graduating in 1969 and received a Master's Degree from that same school in 1973.
Terry worked as an educator, Athletic Director and High School football coach for 50 years. He began his career as a coach in 1969 at Peoria Manual High School (1 year), East Leyden High School (8 years), Bloomington High School as both head coach and Athletic Director (15 years), Downers Grove South as both coach and Athletic Director (10 years), then worked as a coach at a number of high schools from 2003-2019.
As a coach, Terry was extremely successful, winning 30 conference championships and 3 state championships across his illustrious career. In addition to his coaching success, he received numerous awards including induction into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame (1996), Illinois Athletic Director of the Year (1997) and Illinois Athletic Directors Hall of Fame (2009), among many others.
Terry believed in working hard and family comes first. One of his favorite quotes was "You have the greatest power in the world, the power to choose." In all of his roles as a husband, Father, Athletic Director, Coach and friend, Terry impacted thousands of lives and will be dearly missed.
A memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, 3:00-6:00 PM at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville, IL 60540.
A celebration of Terry's life will follow on Wednesday, 6:00 PM, in the funeral home.
Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Terry's memory may be made to:
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, TN 38105, 1-800-822-6344, https://www.stjude.org
For more information, please call (630) 355-0213 or visit www.friedrich-jones.com
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Terry, please visit our floral store.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
1 Entry
Terry Grosshauser
July 8, 2025
As fraternity brothers and great friends, Larry and Sue Johnson, Don and Cathy Goebel, Terry and Bonnie Grosshauser all attended Terry McCombs induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame in Lincoln Nebraska. This was quite a honor since only 184 high school coaches have been given this award in the nation and reflects 50 years of coaching mostly football. We were proud to support Terry at this event, a life long friend and fraternity member. Our group will certainly miss Don and Terry.
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