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New Hope to recall memory of Solebury athletic director Rob Eichem in weekend baseball tourney

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When the Eichem family lost their father and husband, Rob Eichem, they lost so much more than a man.

“We have three sons so he was our rock; he was everything to them,” said Rob’s wife of 17 years, Rachel. “We were a family of five and I feel like we’ve lost a limb.”

“We’re doing great, I think, and we’re all doing the best we can but we are all in our own way, broken.”

Similarly, the Solebury School and surrounding community lost so much more than the Spartans’ athletic director and varsity baseball coach.

Starting with his work as an English and history teacher at the school in 2001, Eichem wore many hats over the years at Solebury including JV boys basketball coach and assistant girls soccer coach.

In the winter, Eichem guided intramural and boys travel basketball teams for the township. In the summer, he helped coach the Connie Mack baseball team in the area, also serving as vice president of the Solebury Baseball Little League’s board of directors. Sometimes, he even umpired the games.

“Rob’s connections with the Solebury School community are numerous – athletic director, teacher, advisor, administrator, coach, parent, colleague ... friend,” said Head of School Thomas G. Wilschutz in a statement following Eichem’s sudden, unexpected death in February 2021.

New Hope-Solebury baseball coach Tony Vlahovic remembers developing a deep admiration and respect for Eichem. The coaches’ respective baseball teams once played each other in a friendly annual rivalry in which the winner would be awarded The Turtle Cup.

“Once you became a friend of Rob’s, you became a friend forever,” said Vlahovic. “He was a great person; he would do anything for you.”

In an effort to pay it forward, something Eichem did all the time, Vlahovic and the New Hope-Solebury Community Association has organized a youth baseball tournament in Eichem’s memory starting this Friday and commencing Sunday on the grounds of New Hope-Solebury High School.

Two brackets – 13U and 14U – of four teams will duel in a round robin format for tournament trophies. Eichem would have loved it, probably watching from the sidelines or even coaching one of the youth teams in the tourney. Before his passing, he was helping Vlahovic organize the tourney.

No matter who needed help, Eichem was always right there for everybody, said his widow, Rachel, be it a friend who was moving or a baseball player who needed to work on his skills on the diamond.

“To a kid on the baseball team struggling with his game, he’d say ‘let’s meet on Sunday morning and I’ll work with you for a couple hours and work on whatever you need to so that you can feel confident the next time you walk on the field,’” explained Rachel.

For Rob and Rachel, love blossomed even before the couple set foot on the campus of Solebury School. When the pair met, both were working as counselors at the West Meade Center – a home for abused children in Hartsville.

“We were friends first but then we fell in love,” said Rachel.

Rob soon proposed to Rachel on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum and the couple was married on the campus at Solebury. Wedding vows were exchanged in the lounge of the boys dormitory while a reception with live music went down in the dining hall.

A subtle man who tended to be reserved, Eichem didn’t need to be at the forefront, said Rachel.

“He was more of a quiet, get it done kind of guy; he didn’t need praise or accolades,” she said. “And he always gave 110 percent. He was very much concerned with doing the absolute best he could, no matter what it was.”

Greg Lewis, a Class of 2004 graduate who will be the school’s new varsity basketball coach (he’s been the assistant) when the Spartans take the court in December, says the impact of the loss of Eichem was astronomical.

“Losing somebody is never easy,” said Lewis. “But at Solebury, being the community we are, everybody pulls their weight in order to make the school flow.

“It’s often easy to miss all the work that others are doing because you’re so caught up in getting all your work done.

“When we lost Rob, you could really see all the work that he did and all the stuff that he did that was unmentioned.”

Maintaining athletic fields, painting lines, making sure the hardwood on the basketball court was cleaned and ready to go for the Spartans, Lewis says, Eichem made sure his tasks at the school were not only completed on time but usually well before.

According to Rachel, Eichem coached more than 60 teams either at the school or in the community. “He was just so involved,” she said. “He never said no to anybody.”

Eichem’s work went beyond the field. He often mentored students and alumni in their respective life journeys.

Lewis was a student at Solebury when Eichem began working there in 2001. He says Eichem played a pivotal role in helping him advance in his career at the school, where he started working in 2015 as the assistant dean of students.

“Rob was really instrumental in making that happen for me,” said Lewis. “My life really wouldn’t be where it is right now if it wasn’t for Rob, and him having the impact that he did in helping direct where I’m at right now.”

Eichem passed away on Feb. 10, 2021 when COVID vaccines were just beginning to roll out to the general public. So Rachel wanted to wait until spring when things would open up for a memorial ceremony that could accommodate a large number of mourners to attend an outdoor service.

A Celebration of Life for Rob Eichem was held in June last year on Solebury’s outdoor athletic facilities. More than 400 people attended consisting of all those whose lives were touched by the coach, administrator, teacher, family member, mentor and friend.

Instead of a card with religious connotations, patrons were handed a baseball card commemorating his passing. Many of those in attendance wore their favorite team’s colors in the form of jerseys and baseball hats.

The community will come together once again this weekend to celebrate the memory of Rob Eichem.

The coach will surely be watching from his seat in the sky.

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