- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption:
Coach Scraba
The St Mary’s School Junior High basketball team circa 1954 with coach Stan Scraba. Front, left to right: Leonard Bonneville, Paul Bellerose, Paul LeClair, Ron Coderre. Back: Paul MacCormac, Bob Gosselin, Peter Phaneuf. Courtesy photo.
By Ron P. Coderre
The e-mail from Susan Johnston entitled “Stan the Man,” which was sent with the news of her dad, Stan Scraba’s death set off a series of memories about the man who for well more than a half century positively affected the lives of hundreds and possibly thousands of individuals.
My last contact with Stan Scraba was about one month ago when he called to say hello and to just catch up on news in general. His calls and hand written notes, since he began spending winters in Florida, were something I always looked forward to receiving because they always left me with the feeling that life was good because of people like Stan Scraba.
I first met Stan Scraba when I was a junior high school student at St. Mary’s School and he was our team’s basketball coach. His impact on my life was immediate. A man of character, coach Scraba instilled values into the lives of every young man he ever coached.
The memories of those St. Mary’s day include squeezing seven players into his car to travel to away games because that was the only transportation available to us. And season ending spaghetti dinners at his home, so tastily prepared by his wife of 60 years, Joan, was anxiously looked forward to by all the players.
Our paths crossed again when I was a student at Putnam High School, where Mr. Scraba was a business teacher and assistant football coach. Thanks to his typing class, I and many people my age are able to sit at the key board today and tap the keys without looking at the letters. And the memories of his feisty presence alongside his friend coach Greenhalgh on the Clipper sideline will live on indelibly forever.
It seems that over the years whenever someone with knowledge, enthusiasm and a positive attitude was required to assist with a project we turned to Stan Scraba. This occurred when our friend Benny Auger announced his candidacy for State Representative. As campaign manager for Auger I called on Stan Scraba for sessions in speech writing and presentation, debate preparation and anything else necessary to put together a winning campaign for our aspiring politician.
Our paths continued to pass and zigzag for years and every time we’d meet he was the same Stan Scraba, the coach, the teacher, the mentor, the adviser and the friend. In recent years we enjoyed the opportunity of sharing the speaking podium for the 2011 Putnam Memorial Day festivities. Brigadier General Scraba (U.S. Army ret.) was the featured speaker whom I had the honor of introducing as the event’s Master of Ceremony.
And for the past three year’s Stan Scraba was an integral part of the committee that raised approximately $50,000 for the Coach Jim Greenhalgh Memorial Scholarship.
A solid and devoted Christian man, Stan Scraba was a confidante to many. He was first and foremost a dedicated husband to Joan; a loving father to his two daughters, Susan and Paula and his four sons, Tom (who died tragically in an automobile accident), Mark, Christopher and Sean; a caring grandfather to his ten grandchildren; a coach to hundreds of athletes; a teacher to thousands of students; a General to his many troops; and a friend to everyone who ever met Stan Scraba.
Life will undoubtedly go on although “Stan the Man” Scraba is no longer with us but rest assured there are many who will continue to turn to him in times of need and when his sage advice is required. He may not be physically with us any longer but his presence and aura will always be in our memory.