Mount Olive mourns 'Coach O' after death of legendary softball skipper George Ottavinia
By the time Bill Romano was coaching alongside George Ottavinia, they'd known each other almost Romano's entire life. Ottavinia was Romano's sixth-grade teacher, as well as an assistant baseball coach when he was at Mount Olive High School.
They worked together with the Marauders softball program for two years, and Romano stepped up to the top job after Ottavinia retired.
Succeeding the man known affectionately as "Coach O" was "an honor, to be honest," Romano said in an interview. "You’re taking over (from) someone who pretty much taught me everything I knew, sixth grade through high school, and those two years coaching with him."
Ottavinia's Mount Olive softball teams amassed a school-record 325 victories over 17 seasons, winning four Iron Hills division titles, the 1996 Morris County Tournament and NJSIAA sectional titles in 1996 and 1998.
The renowned coach died on Saturday at age 80, according to an obituary posted online by the Leber Funeral Home. A cause of death was not listed.
Ottavinia was inducted into Mount Olive's athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. The high school baseball and softball field was dedicated to him on April 15, 2017. A longtime baseball and softball umpire, Ottavinia continued to work as a site manager for athletic events at Mount Olive until 2021.
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"There’s a whole generation of people who know he’s 'Coach O' but they’re not sure why," said Mount Olive Middle School Principal Jimm Kramer, who coached softball alongside Ottavinia for 11 years and said he should be on the high school's Mount Rushmore.
"He brought you in and made you part of his family," Kramer said. "He remembered every kid he coached, where they played, his parents and where they worked. He cared about everyone. You were never just a player to him."
Funeral arrangements
Visitation will be 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at William J. Leber Funeral Home in Chester, with guests invited to wear their favorite baseball caps.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Jude Roman Catholic Church, with internment to follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Chester.
Mount Olive's baseball team held a moment of silence in Ottavinia's honor prior to its game against Phillipsburg on Monday. The Marauders softball team is planning to do the same on Tuesday. Softball alumni are planning a tribute later this spring.
Long life, well-lived
Born in Elmira, New York, on Nov. 9, 1942, George Ottavinia moved to New Jersey with his parents and siblings in 1959, according to the obituary. He attended Paramus High School, where he was a member of the baseball team – and met his future wife, Doreen Kern.
George Ottavinia served in the U.S. Army for three years, including an 18-month deployment as a cartographer in Germany. He graduated from Paterson State College (now William Paterson University) with a bachelor's degree in Education in 1968. He began a 30-year teaching career at Brookside Elementary School in Westwood, and then taught sixth grade at Tinc Road Elementary and Mount Olive middle schools.
The family, including daughters Jennifer and Amy and son Paul, moved to the Flanders section of Mount Olive in 1978.
George and Doreen Ottavinia celebrated their 50th anniversary on Dec. 26, 2014. He is also survived by their daughter Jennifer Davis and her husband Jeff; son Paul Ottavinia and his wife Ivy; daughter Amy Ottavinia; and six grandchildren; as well as his brother Gary Ottavinia and sister Jayne Graybill, and many nieces and nephews.
All three Ottavinia children are also Mount Olive Hall of Fame inductees.
"He was so respected by everyone here, not just in the Mount Olive community but Morris County in general," said Mount Olive High School vice-principal Dave Falleni, a former athletics director. "He was a great mentor, a great friend. Those two things right there, it doesn’t say it any better. He was a friend to everyone. He didn’t do this position (AD), but he knew exactly how to do it. He was that calming force."
Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.
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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Mount Olive mourns teacher, softball coach George Ottavinia
