By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/25/26
The Delaware County lacrosse community is mourning the sudden passing Sunday night of Jeffrey L. Pettit, 76, a Hall of Famer, founder of Rose Tree-Media Optimist Lacrosse, and one of the most influential figures in the county’s long and proud lacrosse history.
Pettit, along with Bob Bush, launched the boys’ youth lacrosse program jointly sponsored by the Rose Tree-Media Optimist (RTMO) and Havertown Optimist Clubs in 1987. The RTMO and Haverford programs later split as they grew, and Pettit continued to run the RTMO, also coaching in it for many years, until recently. He remained involved in running the program until his passing.
The program, for boys in Grades K to 8, later added girls’ lacrosse and continued to feed into Penncrest’s successful high school programs. Pettit was inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2019 as an individual who has demonstrated long, dedicated, and exceptional service to the game.
Pettit is survived by his wife, Sharon, three sons, Jeff, Evan, and Todd, and daughter, Caitlin. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Wayne Matsinger was the Penncrest head coach from 1999-2024 and an assistant for 10 more years under Jef Hewlings. Matsinger, who won 315 games and a PIAA title in 2014, credited Pettit for building a community that fostered appreciation for the game, good character, and success.
“He had such an enormous impact on our high school program and the entire Penncrest community, and I was very lucky to reap the benefits,” Matsinger said. “In every single banquet, I started by thanking Jeff Pettit for all he has done and his years of service. I cannot imagine how many kids went on to become All-Americans because of what Jeff created – at Penncrest and other schools like Malvern Prep and beyond.
“But not only was he an incredible lacrosse mentor, but he was an incredible man. He is the reason why we created such a great community at Penncrest and why so many people stay and coach right here.”
Said Hewlings: “Jeff was not only the architect of the Rose-Tree Media youth program, but the District’s #1 supporter of building competitive lacrosse at Penncrest when I arrived there in ’89. He always asked, ‘What can we do to support you?’ His passion and drive were the reasons the Penncrest program became what it is; nobody put more quality time and effort into teaching kids the game of lacrosse – and life – than Jeff.”
Pettit was an All-League and All-County player at Huntington High School on Long Island. He then attended Yale University, where he was named Honorable Mention All-Ivy and Honorable Mention All-New England as a senior in 1972 (he also played varsity football). He was an Assistant Coach at Villanova University from 1973 to 1975.
It was at Villanova, where he was a graduate of the Law School, that Pettit was led to the Philly suburbs. One of his three sons, Evan, now the Penncrest head coach, said the family first resided in Ardmore and then moved to Media.
“My older brother (Jeff) played at Ashbee, and when we moved, dad would continue to drive him to practice from Media,” he said. “My mom (Sharon) said, ‘You can’t keep driving to Ardmore. Start your own program!'”
That sparked the decision to create the RTMO. Evan Pettit said his father loved history and appreciated the rich culture of lacrosse developed by the native Americans. That was a key to Jeff Pettit’s passion for the sport.
“He knew the Native Americans’ roots of the game, and in the mid-90’s he took a group to the World Youth Games in England, and we were lucky to have kids from Onondaga play with the Rose Tree Optimist Club,” said Evan, who guided Penncrest to the PIAA 2A championship game this year. “Dad grew up in a community on Long Island where lacrosse was bigger, and he knew the true legacy of the game.”
His Hall of Fame recognition reflected a legacy built through years of service and a lasting impact on the sport. His work helped strengthen the roots of lacrosse in Delaware County and ensured that so many young people had a place to play. The Optimist program expanded to girls (in 1994) with his support.
This summer Jeff Pettit had the thrill of being involved in a special boys’ and girls’ scrimmage in Media hosted by the RTMO, which featured Onondaga superstar Lyle Thompson and his team, the Future Elites.
“I guess dad’s true legacy is that every game of lacrosse that gets played in this area is because of him,” said Evan Pettit. “Maybe that’s braggadocious, but it had to start some way, and he started it with Bob.”
Jeff Pettit’s children are all heavily involved in lacrosse. Evan was an assistant under Matsinger for 21 years before taking over, and Jeff has been a Penncrest assistant for 17 years. Todd was an assistant at Conestoga and head coach at Souderton, and Caitlin is head coach at Garnet Valley after serving as Penncrest head coach (taking the Lions to the PIAA 3A finals in 2023) and assisting at Wilmington University.
Jeff Pettit also created LAXAPALOOZA, a lacrosse event to raise scholarship funds, from 2006 to the present, and Young Warriors Camps, summer camps aimed at new players, from 2007 to the present. Jeff was the Philadelphia Lacrosse Association Man of the Year in 1993, and he won the PLA Norm Award in 2007. In 2001, Jeff was a Media Hall of Fame Warren B. Humes Sportsperson of the Year.
Pettit also served as School Board Director for the Rose Tree-Media School District for 20 years.
Pettit also was a highly respected attorney for over 45 years, most recently practicing with McElroy Deutsch in Philadelphia. He was a graduate of the Villanova University School of Law, where he was the Managing Editor of the Law Review. He was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court, and the Federal District and Appellate Courts in Pennsylvania. He held an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating of professional excellence.
