STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Jack Minogue, a Staten Island Advance-SILive.com sportswriter for five-plus decades and influential educator who impacted numerous lives, died on Sunday evening after a short illness.
The life-long Islander, who championed many worthy causes through columns and actions, was 86.
In addition to his many years at the Advance, Minogue was heavily involved in education. His role in teaching not only branched to the traditional classroom and playing field (as a coach), but eventually evolved into an exemplary career as an administrator and advisor.
“Sportswriter Derek Alvez got it absolutely right when he called Jack’s time on earth a ‘lifetime of selflessness.’ And that was back in 2009, when Jack was honored by the Advance after his retirement,‘’ said Advance/SILive.com executive editor Brian Laline. “Jack Minogue was an extraordinary guy who loved sports and much as he loved education. And I won’t even get into his biting sense of humor.
Jack Minogue, seen above in his column cut photo in the early 2000s, worked for the Advance's sports department for 55 years. (Staten Island Advance-SILive.com/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance-SILive.com/Jan Somma-Hammel
“Jack touched lives, thousands of them — both teens and adults — about to slip through the cracks. I won’t even try to guess how many Staten Islanders owe their success, and probably many, their lives, to a guy who saw the good in people, no matter how deep it was buried. Staten Island is a much better place because of Jack Minogue. I doubt there’ll ever be another like him.”
“Jack was all about the community,‘’ added Peter Whitehouse, who got to know Minogue through a short stint as a track & field sportswriter at the paper and later as a high school track & field coach and one of the driving forces behind The Christopher Whitehouse Foundation. ”He just couldn’t stop himself from doing good where he thought he could help.
“It’s tough to be consistent, but it’s great to be consistently giving like he was his whole life.‘’
Minogue is survived by his beloved wife of 39 years, Doreen; daughters Gerrilynne Clement (Billy), Michele Spangler (Alan), Christine Turner (Steve); sons John Minogue (Sheila) and Thomas Minogue (Christina); step-children Natalie Licini, James Caricola (Victoria Hollis) and Jason Hernandez (Favio); numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren; his brother Robert (Michele) and sister Mary Asmann.
Minogue was predeceased by another sister, Constance Moran.
New Springville resident Jack MInogue, center with tie, enjoyed nothing more than spending time with his large family. This photo was taken in 2005. (Staten Island Advance-SILive.com)Staten Island Advance-SILive.com
Top-notch sportswriter, columnist
Minogue was born in Meiers Corners and attended St. Peter’s Boys High School before graduating from the New Brighton school in 1955. He was a member of the baseball team under legendary head coach and former MLBer Al Naples.
The Staten Island Sports Hall of Famer (class of 2010) went on to graduate from St. Peter’s College in Jersey City and at about the same time, just as the offices of the Advance were about to move from Castleton Avenue to West Fingerboard Road in Grasmere (1960), he began his long, esteemed career at the Island’s lone daily newspaper.
Jack Minogue graduated from St. Peter's Boys HS in 1955. Above is the Meiers Corners native's senior year picture in the New Brighton school's yearbook. (Courtesy of St. Peter's)Courtesy of St. Peter's
Minogue did it all during his time at the Advance/SILive.com, from covering high school beats, writing opinion columns, rating playing fields on the Island to keeping tabs on road racing’s Triple Crown standings when the paper hosted the annual Memorial Day Run.
The New Springville resident was also a copy editor and occasional ‘slot-man’ who was responsible for organizing the layout for the next day’s paper.
His columns — often witty and amusing — advocated and/or defended multiple causes through the years, most notably the 2002 firing of McKee/Staten Island Tech athletic director and long-time varsity baseball coach Bob Steele and the importance of opening the indoor track and field that is known as the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex today.
The headline said it all as Jack Minogue was named the 2009 Staten Island Advance Service Award winner. (Staten Island Advance)Staten Island Advance
In his latter years, Minogue also covered collegiate sports — most notably Wagner College and the College of Staten Island — and, perhaps, he enjoyed reporting on the Seahawks’ football team a tad more than anything else.
Minogue retired from the Advance as a full-timer in 2009, then for good six years later.
“When I started at the Advance in 1984, Larry Miraldi, the sports editor who hired me, introduced me to Jack and called him ‘the conscience of Staten Island sports,‘” recalled Carmine Angioli, who later became sports editor and is now the print edition’s sports curator. “He really was, whether he was taking on the parks department over playing field issues or the Board of Ed about support for school sports. Jack was always in the people’s corner.
“Better than that, though, was his constant encouragement and guidance and friendship, which I appreciated every day we worked together.”
Whitehouse, meanwhile, said Minogue would contact him annually to do an advance story on a fundraising event for the Whitehouse Foundation, which was named in memory of his son, Christopher with a mission of helping kids in need.
Former Staten Island Advance-SILive.com sportswriter Jack Minogue, left, and road racing legend Bill Welsh share a word while visiting the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in 2015. (Staten Island Advance/SILive.com)Staten Island Advance/SILive.com
“Jack would write a column and he’d reference Christopher, who was a great athlete, so it was a sports story as well as a heart-breaking story and it was an advertisement for our annual fundraiser,‘’ explained the former All-American hurdler at the University of Notre Dame, as well as anex-Tottenville HS T&F coach. ”He did it every year until he retired. And every year, he found an angle, to make it different, to feature the foundation and its upcoming fundraiser and it helped us take off the ground.
“I’ll be forever indebted to him and amazed at what he did,‘’ he continued. ”I never asked him. He’d call me up and say, ‘it’s getting around fundraising time’ and we’d talk a little bit and he’d dig a story out of some inane conversation we were having.
“He was that way — he was tremendously loyal. Among the phrases that were common was ‘tell me what I can do to help.‘’
Exemplary education man
As popular as Minogue was with the Island’s sports community, he was equally admired for the unconditional work ethic he put forward in the world of education.
And that persona branched out to teenagers and adults alike.
After finishing his education at St. Peter’s College, Minogue embarked on his career as an educator by returning to St. Peter’s Boys HS, then Staten Island Academy for short stints.
He taught at Port Richmond HS for a number of years before truly finding his niche at the St. George School in 1972. The latter institution centered around adults and, as former Advance columnist Jay Price once put it, it’s ‘where he was the boots-on-the-ground, heart and soul of alternative programs that have awarded diplomas to thousands of students ... and a few teachers (too).’
He retired from St. George in 2015, but the 2009 Advance Service Award winner was far from done in eduction as he became a founding Board member for New World Prep Charter School. He was a trustee until the time of his death.
“No matter where Jack went, he impacted people, — students and ballplayers,‘’ said New World Prep Chairman of the Board Butch Aponte, who worked with Minogue at both Port Richmond HS and St. George prior to the charter school. “He would get to New World Prep early in the morning and be there as the school buses came in. He would greet the kids, faculty and the like and did that every day.
Meiers Corners native Jack Minogue ran sandlot baseball leagues during his spare time and, at one point, had 43 teams competing between Sunday and weeknight loops. (Courtesy of the Minogue family)Courtesy of the Minogue family
“The kids adapted to him like a magnet,‘’ Aponte added. ”And he would come back at dismissal and tell them, ‘make sure you get your home work done and everything else.
“During the summer, he’d always be at a ball field and just was constantly with young people and showing leadership. If you pick up anybody on Staten Island who is involved with baseball or athletics or education and you mention the name ‘Jack Minogue,’ you would have a thousand stories. That’s just who he was.‘’
He knew how to coach, run a league
Minogue started coaching when he was just a teenager and, in fact, was just a few years older than the kids he guided when he first started.
When he was still in college, be became St. Rita’s sports coordinator, further solidifying his make-up as a mentor and administrator.
All of those early experiences came in handy for his latter years, particularly on the men’s sandlot baseball circuit.
Jack Minogue, kneeling second to left, played high school baseball at St. Peter's Boys HS before graduating from the New Brighton school in 1955. (Courtesy of St. Peter's)Courtesy of St. Peter's
For over 40 years, Minogue ran an operation that was considered the largest in the entire country. He ran such organizations as the T-M, Muche, Pete Tomasino and Twilight (week nights) Leagues and had a close association with the Murphy League, which was run by close friend and former New Dorp resident Rich Guarino.
In fact, according to Guarino, the man he considered a father had over 40 teams competing in the Sunday and week night leagues at one time.
It was not uncommon for Minogue to carry a rake in his car, just in case a field needed some last-minute fixing following a rainout.
And, to boot, he managed or coached teams for years. At one point during his incredible career, he guided Cedric’s Clothier to 12 consecutive championship-game appearances.
“My father passed away when I was 22-years-old and I’ve known Jack since I was 17. So he basically became my adopted father,‘’ said the 68-year-old Guarino. ”He was always there for me.
“Jack was the amateur sandlot baseball magnate — he was Staten Island baseball,‘’ Guarino continued. “He took it over from Fred Muche and has always honored Fred Muche. I go back to 1974 with him and played until I was 39 and Jack was always there, always looking out for kids who couldn’t afford to buy a glove, for instance, and he’d do some kind of project to get people to donate equipment.
“He was always looking to give back and it was because he always asked. If he didn’t ask, nothing probably would have been done. He did everything.‘’
New Springville resident Jack Minogue takes to mic during the annual Dr. Theodore Atlas Dinner in November of 2010. (Staten Island Advance/Derek Alvez)Staten Island Advance/Derek Alvez
In his spare time
Let’s face it, when you wear many hats, like Minogue did, and likely more often then not burn the candle on both ends, there’s not going to be time to do a lot of other things.
Minogue, who enjoyed good-natured ribbing, loved spending time with his family,
But he enjoyed going out to dinner — especially Duffy’s on Forest Avenue — during his spare time. Otherwise, it was going to baseball games and not necessarily for a league that he ran.
“He was Staten Island sports. Period,‘’ praised Guarino. ”That’s the best thing I can say about Jack, who, like I said, was like a father to me.‘’
And many others, as well.
*****
Minogue’s wake will be Thursday between 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Matthew’s Funeral Home in Willowbrook. The funeral mass will be at the Church of St. Teresa’s in Castleton Corners on Friday at 10:45 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, it was Minogue’s wish that monetary donations be made to New World Prep. Those wishing to donate can do so by searching Newworldprep.org/donate.