Obituary of Anthony J. Cotoia

Anthony J. Cotoia Mr. Cotoia was born in Panni, a small mountaintop village in the province of Apulia, Italy. He came to the United States with a sister and his mother in November 1938 when he was 11, part of his father's relocation of the family to America that took a few years. The family settled in New Canaan, CT, and in high school there, Mr. Cotoia was captain of the football and basketball teams and president of his graduating class. After high school, Mr. Cotoia enlisted in the Army and served in Korea with the Seventh Infantry Division. The GI bill enabled him to attend the University of Delaware, where he majored in education and minored in history, earning both his bachelor's and master's degrees. After two years of teaching physical education in Vineland, Mr. Cotoia accepted a teaching position in South Plainfield in 1955. The following year, he met fellow teacher Janice Magavich and they wed in 1959. They were married for 43 years. When Mr. Cotoia arrived in South Plainfield, the high school was new and offered students very few athletic programs. After he was hired as the high school's first basketball coach, he drove through town trying to get a sense of how popular the game was. To his dismay, he saw only one basketball hoop, behind Delayo's Market. Even worse, the boys playing there that day went to parochial school. After two years building the local basketball program from the ground up, including establishing youth leagues in town, Mr. Cotoia coached the 1959 team to an undefeated season. His overall coaching record at South Plainfield was 177-63. His teams won three Central Jersey championships and the state Group 3 championship in 1964. As a varsity football coach, Mr. Cotoia enjoyed a record of 14-3-1. Mr. Cotoia later became athletic director at South Plainfield High School. In that position, he was instrumental in expanding the number and scope of the high school's sports programs and ensuring that the girls' programs achieved parity with the boys' programs. He also served as a vice principal at the high school and middle school and retired as principal of the South Plainfield Middle School in 1992, after working in the district for 37 years. Mr. Cotoia played a key role in developing state-of-the-art athletic facilities at the high school, including the Frank Jost Track and Field and South Plainfield High School gym, which was named in his honor after his retirement. He was a founding member and secretary of the Mid-State Athletic Conference. Throughout his life, Mr. Cotoia was active in his community. He served as a member of the South Plainfield Borough Council for nine years, three as its president. After his wife died in 2002, her colleagues donated books to the library of the John F. Kennedy Elementary School, where she had taught. Mr. Cotoia continued that tradition and each year donated 25 books to the school library in her memory. After retirement, Mr. Cotoia was active with the Plainfield chapter of UNICO, the South Plainfield Historical Society and the Sacred Heart parish, serving as its historian. He also remained active in high school sports by serving on the selection committee of New Jersey State Inter scholastic Athletic Association's Coaches Hall of Fame. Additionally, he assisted at NJSIAA coaching clinics and evaluated basketball officials for state high school championship assignments. In 2007, Mr. Cotoia's two daughters gave him a surprise 80th birthday party that was attended by many of his former players and colleagues, some of who came from as far away as Florida, Nevada and South Carolina. An outgrowth of that event was the creation of the Anthony J. Cotoia Scholarship for a graduating South Plainfield High School varsity basketball or football player who intends to pursue a career in teaching and coaching. Mr. Cotoia felt that education was a great equalizer and that it was essential to assist the next generation of teachers and coaches. In 2008, Mr. Cotoia was inducted into the NJSIAA/Bollinger Hall of Fame, the organization's highest honor, for his lifetime contributions to interscholastic sports in New Jersey. Son of the late Alfonso and Anna Bianco Cotoia, he was predeceased by his wife, his brothers Frank and Rocco Cotoia, and sister Annantonia Gesualdi. He is survived by daughters Margaret Ann of Hamilton and Patricia of South Plainfield, as well as a sister, Sarah Ruggiero, of New Canaan, CT. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 beginning 9:15 AM in the McCriskin-Gustafson Home for Funerals, 2425 Plainfield Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ 07080 followed by a 10:00 AM funeral mass at Sacred Heart RC Church in South Plainfield. Mausoleum entombment will follow in Holy Redeemer Cemetery. Visitation will be on Monday, November 30, 2009 from 4-8 PM in the South Plainfield P.A.L. Building, 1250 Maple Avenue, South Plainfield. Memorial contributions may be made to the South Plainfield Education Foundation Inc. - Anthony J. Cotoia Scholarship, P.O. Box 733, South Plainfield, NJ 07080. Anthony J. Cotoia of South Plainfield, one of New Jersey's most respected and successful high school basketball coaches, died Thursday after a brief illness. He would have turned 82 Monday.