The Nashua sports scene lost a cherished member of its community when Manfred Beyer, a longtime Nashua high school soccer coach, died Tuesday morning.

After 35 years of coaching in the Nashua district, Beyer stepped down as Nashua South girls’ head coach before this season in favor of Kelly Gabree, one of his former players, but remained on her staff with plans to retire at the conclusion of the season. He had been the girls’ coach at Nashua High School since 1995 and assumed the role at South when the school split into South and North in 2004.

“For those of you who have been lucky enough to meet Manfred, he was a great man who loved soccer, loved the Purple Panthers, and loved life,” said Nashua school district Director of Athletics and Wellness Thomas Arria in an email. “He went above and beyond as a ‘part-time’ coach to provide opportunities for all student-athletes. He was a great mentor to young coaches and educators. Multiple generations of (Nashua) soccer players are better athletes, people and citizens because they had Manfred leading and teaching them. The South community, the Nashua School District and our entire city is a better place because of his contributions to our youth.”

George “Butch” Joseph served as an assistant principal at Nashua High and knew and admired Beyer.

“In all the years I’ve been involved in sports as an administrator, coach and official, I’ve never known a man who was more dedicated and who loved his sport as much as Manfred did,” said Joseph. “To tell you the truth, I hardly ever saw Manfred when I was the assistant principal because we never had any problems. And that never surprised me because he was the kindest and nicest man you’d ever want to meet. I’m going to miss him and I’m sure the Nashua community and state will miss him.”

Despite being on opposite sides of the pitch for rival squads, Beyer and North head coach Dan Wyborne developed a relationship with a common goal of enriching the lives of their players.

“He was a great guy, a great coach, and a great leader,” said Wyborne. “Manfred had a special rapport with all of his players on and off the field and he did a great job with the program, producing some good, winning programs and nice, professional young women. He was a huge asset to the Nashua area both when the schools were combined and now that they’re separated. He was a very special person and he’ll be missed.”

Longtime Manchester Central coach Peter Lally was saddened to hear the news.

“First and foremost, Manfred was a gentleman,” said Lally. “He was a soft-spoken man with a laid-back approach, but he was well-respected and well-loved by his players. His kids always came first. As a coach he knew his stuff and you knew when tournament time came around, you had to get past his program somewhere along the line.

“On a personal level we had a great coaching relationship and would always exchange notes on teams around the league. Last year, the way the schedule worked out, he played every team just before we’d play them. And he’d call just to let me know what were facing. Manfred was just a kind man and, as far as I’m concerned, a perfect role model for a coach.”

Lally said Beyer served as an assistant boys’ soccer coach at Nashua under former coach Roger Desmarais. He made two championship game appearances, losing twice to West in 1995 (2-1) and 1-0 in 1999.

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Pat DeCola may be reached at pdecola@unionleader.com. John Habib may be reached at jhabib@unionleader.com.