| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
imtricat
88 Posts |
 Posted - June 10 2008 : 11:21:30
|
I just saw the obit in the Buffalo News for Tony Napoli.
Trail running. |
|
|
JF
3100 Posts |
Posted - June 11 2008 : 08:05:07
|
| Legend. |
 |
|
|
michelle
217 Posts |
Posted - June 11 2008 : 11:16:51
|
I think he was at the JFK Bear race last Saturday in Cheektowaga. He was the only other local runner that I recognized. (I could be wrong, as there are no results. They didn't bother with results.)
One heck of a runner and a truly nice man.
Michelle Wolniewicz
michelle |
|
|
|
Jan J.
337 Posts |
Posted - June 11 2008 : 13:45:43
|
Buffalo News 6-12-08
Antonio F. Napoli, champion runner into later years
Sept. 8, 1920 to June 8, 2008
Antonio F. Napoli — or just plain Tony to the thousands who got to know him over the years as he set one running record after another as a masters runner — died Sunday in Millard Fillmore Hospital. He was 87.
He had suffered a small stroke two months ago but fought back through numerous medical problems to the point where he was back to walking up to nine miles a day in Delaware Park before falling last week in his Buffalo home.
Friends said his recent comeback was in true Napoli style, the same sort of grit he showed at age 65 when he routinely trained more than 100 miles a week. A typical week consisted of running 15 miles each weekday plus 18 miles each on Saturday and Sunday.
Mr. Napoli never ran competitively as a youth but ran daily for exercise to keep himself in shape as a boxer, and later a handball and racquetball player.
Born in Niagara Falls, he worked at Union Carbide for 41 years, retiring as a foreman in 1984. During World War II, he served as a bombardier in the Army Air Forces.
His racing debut came by accident in 1982, when he was 62. He went to Delaware Park for a run, discovered the WBEN Run for Your Life about to start and entered. He finished the 12.4-mile race second in his age group and was hooked.
The following year, he was ready to run in the Empire State Games, but once he heard about all the fast runners coming from around the state, he stayed home.
“That was stupid on my part,” he told The Buffalo News. The winner in the 10,000 meters finished with a time slower than his qualifying time. He came back the next day and won the 5,000 meters.
In 1986, Mr. Napoli won five gold medals when the Empire Games came to Buffalo. In 1988, he ran the fastest 10K in the United States for a 68-year-old — 41:18 at the National Masters 10K championship. He was named the outstanding runner in the nation in 1988 for ages 65-69 by the Athletic Congress. He was a multiple Buffalo News Runner of the Year winner and, at age 77, broke the world record in the mile for his age, running a 6:48 on the track at Cornell University.
His running career seemed to end in 2001 when his wife, Mary, died after a five-year fight with Alzheimer’s disease. After they married in May 1977, Mary Napoli had come to the park every day with him, and her death shook him so he barely left his house for three months.
He slowly started coming back to Delaware Park, walking and saying hello to the friends who had become part of his family over the years. One day, his old friend Dr. Lawrence Jacobs came up behind him, grabbed him in a bear hug and whispered in his ear.
“You have to start running again, Tony, or your metabolism’s going to change and you’re going to get sick,” Jacobs told him.
He took the advice and got back into running. The following year, he ran the Buffalo Marathon at age 81 in 4 hours and 32 minutes. After Dr. Jacobs died, Mr. Napoli became a board member of the Jog for the Jake, the run in Jacobs’ honor that will be held Sunday.
Mr. Napoli was the former president of the Lions Club in Buffalo, a member of the Nickel City Running Club and a volunteer tax preparer for the elderly. He also served as an usher at Coronation of the Virgin Mary Catholic Church.
Prayers will be said at 9:15 a. m. Thursday at Amigone Funeral Home, 1132 Delaware Ave., and a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 in Coronation of the Virgin Mary Church, Dewitt Street and Pooley Place.
— Michael Beebe
NAPOLI - Antonio F. June 8, 2008, age 87, devoted husband of the late Mary (nee Giancarlo) Napoli; dearest uncle of Judith and Joseph Rodriquez; special companion and friend of Ruth Schunk. Family and friends will be present on Wednesday from 4-8 PM at the (Delaware Chapel) AMIGONE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 1132 Delaware Ave., where funeral services will be held Thursday at 9:15 AM followed by a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated from Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, 348 Dewitt St. at 10 AM. Friends invited. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lawrence D. Jacobs Memorial Foundation (in honor of Tony Napoli). Jog for the Jake, P.O. Box 338, Buffalo N.Y., 14205.
Published in the Buffalo News from 6/10/2008 - 6/11/2008.
|
|
|
|
imtricat
88 Posts |
Posted - June 17 2008 : 11:54:49
|
I recently saw Tony at Delaware Park. I had not seen Tony in several years as I was living out of state. I was very happy that he remembered me after so long. Yes, he was I very good person a true gentleman. I will refer to Tony as a role model for years to come.
Trail running. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
