When Tina Hennessey was in college at Cornell University, she played on the women’s lacrosse team. Every day when she had a game, her father, Thomas Hennessey, woke up at 4 a.m., hopped in his car and made the six hour trek on I-90 to Ithaca, New York to see his daughter play.

All three of his daughters, Tina, Sara and Maria, played varsity sports at Ivy League schools. Thomas Hennessey rarely missed any of their games.

“He was just the best dad you could ever hope for,” Tina said. “He gave myself and my sisters the best life ever. He was a great person.”

In addition to being a dedicated husband and father, Thomas Hennessey is widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes to ever walk through the doors of Brookline High School and for his contributions to the Town of Brookline. In 2012, at the age of 71, he passed away after a battle with cancer. In honor of his legacy, the fields outside the high school on Cypress Street were renamed the Thomas P. Hennessey Athletic Fields at Cypress Street Playground.

Hennessey captained the football, basketball and track and field teams at Brookline High School and was named an All-Scholastic both his junior and senior year in football. He was inducted into the Brookline High School Hall of Fame in 1994.

“He was one of the best that’s ever gone to Brookline High without question,” Ed Schluntz, former Athletic Director and one of Hennessey’s coaches, said. “We just loaded him with responsibility, and he was able to do it all because he was so smart and so quick.”

After graduating from high school, Hennessey was awarded a full scholarship to play football and track and field at the College of the Holy Cross, Schluntz said. In his first play with the football team, Hennessey received the opening kickoff at Harvard Stadium and returned it for a touchdown against the Crimson.

In 1963, Hennessey received the Holy Cross Crusader of the year award for his outstanding achievements as a student-athlete. Hennessey volunteered a year of his life while at Holy Cross to becoming a teacher and physical education instructor at the Jesuit College in Baghdad, Iraq. When he came back, he spent another year serving as assistant to the Dean of Men at the school.

“He did it all and he chose to do it all,” Tina said. “He chose to take the time to give back to all the things that were important to him and meant a lot to him.”

After graduating from Holy Cross and playing a year of semi-professional football, Hennessey went on to play defensive back for the Boston Patriots. He was named the Patriots Rookie of the Year in 1965 and recorded eight interceptions in the two seasons he played for the team, including two against now Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Namath.

According to Jack Kendrick, a longtime friend of Hennessey, he never sought glory or praise, even with all the attention his athletic prowess attracted.

“Even from high school, with all the publicity he got, he always deflected it and was extremely humble,” Kendrick said. “He always seemed to have this attitude that he was blessed with his athletic and intellectual skills.”

Joe Davis, a former teammate of Hennessey at Brookline, agreed that his humility was one of his defining characteristics.

“Everything he did he approached the same way: straightforward, head on, get the job done, don’t be looking around for recognition,” Davis said.

Hennessey pursued a four decade long career in education in the Boston school system after retiring from the Patriots. He was a coach and administrator at Brighton High School and was also named headmaster at Madison Park High School at the same time United States District Court Judge Arthur Garrity instituted forced busing in Boston.

According to Kendrick, the school was three quarters minority at the time, and Hennessey worked to ensure that all his students got an equal education and that there was no trouble in his facilities.

“That was absolute mayhem, and Tom was in charge of a school that was right in the middle of it,” Davis said. “He did an exemplary job.”

Hennessey continued his legacy of civic engagement by becoming the only person in the history of Brookline to serve as both the Chairman of the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. When Proposition 2.5 was passed in 1980, the Brookline school department had to cut its budget by 20 percent. According to Kendrick, Hennessey was credited with steering the town through the budgetary constraints and protecting many of the school system’s core programs.

On top of his commitment to athletics, education, politics and raising three girls, Hennessey served as a surrogate father to James Thornton’s three children, after Thornton, a boyhood friend of Hennessey, passed away at the age of 46. He also helped establish the James M. Thornton Memorial Scholarship for students at Northeastern in honor of his friend, according to Davis.

“It’s a crazy statement, but I cannot think of a flaw in Tom Hennessey,” Davis said. “I’m sure there are some, but none that I’m aware of.”

After Hennessey’s death, Kendrick and Davis started a campaign to rename the field after him.

“I did not want to see his name and his legacy to the town just drift into the background,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick’s and Davis’ initial proposal to the Brookline Parks and Recreation Department was unanimously disapproved.

However, Kendrick said support from former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Chairman of New Balance Jim Davis, energized the renaming process. Kendrick and Davis also received backing from former selectmen Donna Kalikow, Mike Merrill, Joe Geller and Bob Allen, who came forward to lead the political approval process. The final approval came at Town Meeting on Nov. 18 after a 207-1 vote. The dedication ceremony and unveiling of the new park name took place at the Robert and Dubbs Auditorium on Nov. 28.

“We went through a very long process, but it all was worth it in the end,” Davis said. “The result is great. His name will be remembered in town forever.”

In addition to renaming the field, Kendrick, Davis, and Mike Hennessey, Thomas’ brother, are in the process of launching the Thomas P. Hennessey scholarship, which two Brookline High School students will receive each year. They are planning a road race in April to raise money for the fund.

“It’s just amazing that there’s going to be some permanent symbol of his life and his contributions to Brookline,” Tina said. “Every single day I think about him. I miss him every day.”

Seth Coven can be contacted at [email protected].