Services for Acevedo, former Santa Rita coach and teacher, moved

Acevedo died Dec. 1 after battling a short illness. Services will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Calvary Evangelistic Center, 5160 S Treat Ave. They are open to the public.

Acevedo, 51, suffered a heart attack roughly three weeks ago, his brother, Richard, said. Acevedo contracted pneumonia the following week, Richard said. Acevedo was later hospitalized and his condition worsened.

“All those complications kept adding up,” said Richard Acevedo. “My brother really loved coaching and winning wasn’t everything.”

Acevedo, who taught science and health at Santa Rita, served as a assistant coach under Dan Moore on the baseball team before taking over the program after Moore retired in 2010. Acevedo spent two years as the Eagles' athletic director, and coached the boys golf team for more than a decade. He also helped start the Santa Rita/Flowing Wells Tournament of Champions golf invitational.

Herman House, TUSD's director of interscholastics, said Acevedo was "just a great guy." 

“It certainly was very shocking and sudden to all of us; we knew he was in the hospital and were just praying he could get through it,” House said. “He believed in what we was doing as far as coaching; he believed in his kids, and that showed."

Acevedo began coaching at Empire last spring, though he continued to teach at Santa Rita. Acevedo was an assistant baseball coach there, and was helping out with preseason training at the time he fell ill.

Shannon Woolridge, Empire school’s athletic director, was in a “state of shock” upon finding out about Acevedo’s death.

“He was just a genuinely good and authentic guy,” Woolridge said. “What was really cool about him is that he took gratification in other peoples’ success. When other people were successful, he was happy for them.”

Acevedo and Richard, 50, played baseball together at Sunnyside High School, Cochise College and Western New Mexico.

Michael Acevedo spent time in New Mexico after college before returning to Tucson. His first coaching job came at Sunnyside, where he ran the junior varsity baseball team. Acevedo took over Cholla’s varsity team a few years later before moving on to Santa Rita.

Acevedo is survived by his 54-year-old wife, Janna, and two children. 

“He’s been a green-and-gold guy through and through for many years,” said Shawn Wasson, a fellow coach and teacher at Santa Rita. “He was just an all-around great guy; there’s not one bad thing I could say about Mike.”