In Memoriam
“Now and forever I will always think of you.” – Carole King
With another year coming to an end and the new year just begun, it is appropriate to take time to remember the many individuals who passed away in 2024 after making their marks in the wonderful world of Delaware County sports.
In January, we learned of the passing of Phil Damiani, a Penncrest High and Delco League baseball player, former president of the Media Sports Hall of Fame and board member of the Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum; Eleanor M. Schopf of the Interboro High wrestling boosters; William Hoy, who played basketball at St. Joseph’s College and coached at St. Thomas More and West Catholic high schools; John J. MacVeigh III, a Delco Baseball League pitcher and Widener University pitching coach; and Folsom A.A. baseball coach and Our Lady of Fatima CYO basketball coach Charles Kennedy.
Others who died in January included long-time Eagles ticket manager Leo Carlin; Ronald Powell, a Penncrest High baseball player; Marple Newtown High football coach Robert Kenig; Gerald W. Ryan, a loyal St. James High baseball team manager; Robert J. Swantek Jr., who coached in the Chester East Little League; and Dr. Lee J. Janiczek of the Springfield Athletic Association.
In February, we lost Ted Dean, the Radnor High football and basketball player who scored winning touchdown in the Eagles’ 1960 championship game victory over the Green Bay Packers; Monsignor Bonner High Hall of Fame swimmer James E. Feehery Jr.; Malvern Prep basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Purcell; Joseph Sweeney, a Collingdale High athlete who coached football with the Chichester Crusaders and Upland A.C.; Jack Ruane Sr., St. James High football player and long-time college and high school football official; trach and field athlete Darrel Lawrence; Dominick Pizzo, president of the Delco Men’s Senior Baseball League; and St. James High football player Thomas Keenan.
Others who passed away in February included Chichester Baseball League coach David P. Miller Jr.; Archmere Academy athlete, Delaware youth coach and member of the Seashore Striders Running Club Joseph LoBiondo; local soccer and baseball player John Helm; Robert Kaut, Collingdale High athlete, Aldan Boys and Girls Club coach and past president of the Aldan Swim Club; Archbishop Carroll High track athlete Hugh Braithwaite; and Joseph Pagano Jr., who competed in football, basketball and track at Media High School.
In March, came word of the deaths of Mary Ann Danish, IceWorks hockey tournament director and Learn To Play coordinator; CYO basketball and Little League baseball coach Lawrence Carroll; Ridley High football, basketball and track athlete Patrick Mills; Vito DiCamillo, who set the St. James High football kickoff return record; and Upper Darby Township director of tennis John P. Hanlon Jr.
Others we lost in March included Charles Ricker, Ridley High football player and Ridley Junior ABA basketball coach; Sylvianne Capotrio, vice president of the Darby Little League Women’s Auxiliary; local football and baseball player Kevin Patton; local softball player and Senior Olympics participant Fred DiDomenico; and Charles “BB” Colder, popular Chester High athletics public address announcer.
In April, we mourned the deaths of Gabe Fucci, athletic trainer at Widener University and Glen Mills Schools; Ridley High wrestler William Teetsel; Heather Leskie, who played field hockey and basketball at Ridley Township High and coached at Ridley Junior High; William Tribbett, Eddystone youth basketball coach who coached varsity boys basketball teams at Ridley and Interboro high schools; William McGonigal, outstanding basketball player at St. James High and La Salle College; Chester High football player Rahn Scott; Peter Gutowski, who coached Briarcliffe Fathers and Sons A.A. baseball teams; and St. James High baseball player Edward Miazza.
Others who died in April included Kathy Drysdale, a Comets AAU basketball coach; Thomas M. Mortimer Jr., who coached football for Folsom Boys Club; high school football official John Chilla; Eileen Rullo, long-time Catholic League basketball official; local basketball coach Sid Russell; David Beamon, local baseball player and baseball and softball umpire and basketball official; and James P. Egan, local bowler who coached bowling teams at St. James and Monsignor Bonner high schools, was a local softball umpire and Special Olympics volunteer.
In May, we learned of the passing of Charles R. LaSpada Jr., who competed in football and bowling at St. James High; local softball player Victor Kushto; Interboro High soccer player Conor McCarthy; St. James High wrestler Gregg Morgan; James Clark, Media High baseball player and Marcus Hook Softball League player; Upper Darby High wrestler Joseph Dougherty; and local bowler Martin Amis III.
In June, we lost JoAnn “Josie” Harper, Penncrest High field hockey, basketball and lacrosse coach and athletic director who became lacrosse coach and athletic director at Dartmouth College; St. James High baseball player James C. Brennan; West Chester University football player John M. Thompson III; Frank Siderio, who played football and baseball at Sharon Hill High then played in the Delco Baseball League; Ridley High soccer player and wrestler Ronald Baldino; St. James High football player Paul Polilli; and Adam J. Foltz Jr., Brandywine Youth Club football and baseball coach.
Others who passed away in June included John T. “Mike” Tuohey III, an Aston-Middletown Little League coach who coached softball at Northley Middle School; Cardinal O’Hara High track coach Edward T. Adams Jr.; Laurie Hurwitz, Upper Darby High softball player and coach who became a PIAA softball umpire; Dr. Joseph M. Stellabotte, Haverford High football team physician; Cardinal O’Hara ice hockey player James Quarry; Harry Smedley, Delco Athletes Hall of Fame baseball player; William J. Dodds Sr., who played football at Nether Providence High football and coached in the Chester West Little League; Irving “Herky” Miller, Chester High football, basketball and baseball player who became a Ridley High assistant football coach; and St. James High football player Leo Yingling.
In July came word of the deaths of Thomas “Tommy” Ellis, beloved Sun Valley High wrestling coach and Aston A.A. president; John Dougherty, Chichester High basketball and baseball coach and athletic director and member of the Ridley Old Timers Hall of Fame; Chester High football player Zaheem Sabree; Robert Stratton, who coached baseball at Monsignor Bonner High and was the school’s athletic director; Chichester High football and baseball player and local softball standout Carl Mushinski; Joseph R. Harrington Jr., Monsignor Bonner graduate who made the football team at Temple University as a walk-on; softball player Amanda Booth; and St. James High football player Richard Misiewicz.
Others who died in July included football coaches who also served as their schools’ athletic director George W. Corner Jr. (Interboro, Radnor) and Robert Fithian (Sun Valley); Joseph T. Eichinger Jr., former Sun Oil Little League coach and president; St. James High football player James Keenan; Mary (Zimmerman) Tinucci, Sharon Hill High field hockey player and cheerleader; Chichester High football player Anton “Tony” Petkovic; local softball player and bowler Edward Crist; James E. Bramwell Jr., who competed in football, basketball and track and field at Swarthmore High; and Springfield High basketball, baseball player Lee Stetson.
In August, we mourned the deaths of St. James High football player Dennis O’Hara; Joseph McBride, football and basketball official and softball umpire; Ridley Township High and Pennsylvania Military College football player Thomas Fizzano; Barbara (Bensing) Terstappen, Yeadon High field hockey player; Ridley High football player Thomas Cesarine; local baseball and softball player John Elison; and Don Warrington, Ridley Township High soccer player who became a sponsor of local softball and dart league teams as well as a loyal fan of his grandchildren’s teams.
Others who passed away in August included high school and college football official Frank Kosman; local wrestler and coach Arthur Erle; Anthony Joseph Lastowka, St. James High basketball player; Chester High baseball player and local softball player and coach Joseph Vankoski; Thaddeus “Ted” Boyda, who played in the Chester West Little League.
Chester High basketball Hall of Famer and coached of a boys basketball state title team at Milford High in Delaware Danny McGinniss.
Michael Gaynor, Monsignor Bonner High Hall of Famer who competed in track at Saint Joseph’s University before becoming Villanova University’s undergraduate admissions director; Paul Tagliaterra, beloved Nether Providence High and Strath Haven High assistant football coach and Strath Haven Middle School athletic director; Chichester High track and field athlete Robert Pierce; and Upper Darby High football team manager Anthony Reagoso.
In September, we learned of the passing of Robert DiNicola, Ridley High football player who became an assistant football coach and principal at Chichester High and was the Chester YMCA Men’s Basketball League director; Philadelphia High School track coach and Penn Relays official Fred Rosenfeld; Chichester High football and track athlete Chichester High football and track athlete Gary Wardius; DeLaSalle swim club coach Richard Daciw; and Interboro High football player Gary Moran.
Others we lost in September included St. James High football and baseball player John Borgese; Leonard Ricci, Chichester High football player and long-time high school football official; local track athlete, semipro football player and bowler James C. McBride Jr.; St. James High baseball player Lawrence Barker; and Donald Henderson, Swarthmore High boys basketball coach and athletic director and Strath Haven High athletic director.
In October, we lost Charles J. Weiners, who was The Hawk during his days at St. Joseph’s College and later eoached softball at Archbishop Prendergast High; Sean J. Gallagher Sr., who played football Sharon Hill High then was a local softball player; Rose Tree Colts and Media Little League coach William Virbitsky; Daniel McHenry, an Interboro High soccer player who coached in the Marple Township Little League, Newtown Square Petticoat Softball League and Marple Soccer Association; Robert Pugliese, Springfield High graduate and youth baseball and football coach; Darby-Colwyn High All-Delco basketball player and state champion Adrian Harmon; and St. James High baseball player John A. McGovern Sr.
Others we mourned in October included Clifton Heights PAL coach and local softball player Roy J. Salute Jr.; Springfield High track and field athlete William W. Schopf Sr.; Marcy Aitken, the Ridley Park native who was coach of the first women’s athletic teams at Archmere Academy; St. James High football player Thomas Smith; Springfield High basketball player John Vona Jr.; and local youth coaches Ronald Ashby (basketball) and Kenneth Walrath (baseball, basketball).
In November came word of the deaths of Frank Savastano, Ridley Township High football player who coached football and baseball at Sharon Hill High before becoming Harriton High’s football coach; basketball statistician and coach Tom McKenna; Babe Ruth baseball coach Joseph Campbell; Sharon Hill High football player and track athlete Craig Kashner; Collingdale High football player Frank Kelly; and William Colgan, St. Laurence School CYO basketball coach.
Others who died in November included Upper Darby High field hockey player Lois (McKeever) Castaldi; Swarthmore High athlete Robert H. Robinson; Harvey Burman, Chester High graduate who played basketball at Temple Pharmacy School; local bowler and Senior Games athlete John H. McCloskey Jr.; St. James High football player Rev. Joseph Glatts; loyal Chester High fan Albert Kerbo; and local baseball player Joe Jackson Jr.
In December, we mourned Joseph Volpone, a Clifton Heights High football player, PIAA football official and ASA softball umpire and Delco Athletes and Ridley Township Old Timers Hall of Fame inductee; St. James High football player and U.S. Navy pilot Walter Evans III; Hannah Meyer, Strath Haven High All-Delco cross country runner; youth volleyball, basketball and track coach Frances O’Haren; Chester High basketball player Al Clay; Harry Pinsky, who was Interboro High’s first wrestling coach as well as an assistant football coach; Haverford High athlete William Cohen; and Folsom Boys Club baseball coach Fred Schaffer.
Others we lost in December included Ridley High football player John Tinney; Aston Sports Hall of Fame inductee and board member Robert Harron; Newtown-Edgmont Little League coach John F. Mullen III; Briarcliffe Father and Son A.A. baseball coach Vincent Martino; St. James High football and baseball players Anthony Forte and John A. Segrin III; and Monsignor Bonner High football player Charles Verna.
Each left special memories for many and will be missed.
“Maybe somewhere down the road a ways … you’ll think of me and wonder where I am these days. – Tom Petty (The Traveling Wilburys)
Compliments of Harry Chaykun, Sports Legends of Delaware County Board Member
Ted Williams batting with Mickey Vernon on deck. 1956
In 1956, Ted Williams and Delco’s own Mickey Vernon enjoyed outstanding years for the Boston Red Sox. Each made the American League All-Star Team and after the season, each was 38 years old. The two men were at the top of their game. Jim Vankoski 610-909-4919 vankoski21@comcast.net www.delcosportsmuseum.org
A National Treasure
Bobby Shantz 98 year old 1952 American League MVP shown here with Delco Sports Museum curator Jim Vankoski. Photo was taken this past weekend. Bobby is one of a handful of WW II veterans with major league experience still living.
SLDC Museum
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum is saluting the golden age of baseball and this country’s “Greatest Generation” with a DVD called “Ballfield to Battlefield and Back–From FDR to JFK”. The DVD features sixty minutes of color footage of WW II and Korean War-era major league players from 1939 through the 1950s. More than eighty players in the DVD who served in the military, including 40 members of the Hall of Fame, are identified, along with their branch of service. Among the Hall of Fame veterans featured are Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, Hank Greenberg, Jackie Robinson, and Yogi Berra. All of those featured were professional ballplayers prior to WW II, served their country during WW II and then returned to the ballfield–Ted Williams was called to serve again during the Korean war. The DVD also features four presidents (FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, and JFK) “throwing out the first ball” in Washington DC. There is also color footage of Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium in 1947 and of the legendary Honus Wagner when he was a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. This national treasure was filmed and narrated by two former major league players, George Case (six-time stolen base champion and four time all-star) and Mickey Vernon (two-time batting champion and seven -time all-star). For information on how to obtain this DVD for that special fan of the WW II and Korean War era, contact Jim Vankoski at the SLDC Museum at 610-909-4919 or email. vankoski21@comcast.net
Mickey’s Horsehide Club
Living Members of “Mickey Vernon’s Horsehide Club. As of 18, 2024
