Remembering the people we lost in North Jersey athletics in 2022
The North Jersey local sports community is a large one.
More than 90 communities and nearly 75 high schools in our area celebrate our athletes, our coaches, our journalists, our referees and even our super fans.
Here's a brief but not complete list of those we lost in the last year and why they meant so much to us.
We honor them and mourn their loss and hope this reminder brings you good memories always.
Dec. 31, 2021: John Rowe, 76
No one was ever more tuned in to the North Jersey local sports scene than John Rowe, who played high school basketball in Lyndhurst, went to college at Northwestern Oklahoma State College in tiny Ada, Oklahoma, and then after a stint in the Army spent the rest of his life as a sports writer, first for the Herald-News in Passaic and then for The Record from 1973 until he wrote his final articles in April 2020.
His last full-time position was as deputy sports editor, but John could do it all, cover any sport you could name from high schools to the pros, and do it well all the time. He covered the Kentucky Derby, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, the World Series and the NBA Championships, and even made an appearance on an ESPN Films documentary about Chuck Wepner, "The Real Rocky". But it was his ability to read the pulse of North Jersey sports that made him special.
April 5: Billy Harris, 79
It's not often that someone becomes a legend in two places, thousands of miles apart. That's what Billy Harris achieved in Bergen County and at the University of Colorado. Harris scored a then-Bergen County record 27 touchdowns in nine games in 1958 and set a scoring record that lasted for 35 years. He was the leading vote-getter on The Record's 1950s All-Decade team and was part of The Record's All-Century team, selected in 1999. He was voted the No. 6 Bergen County athlete of all-time in 2000.
Harris played at Colorado, where he helped the Buffaloes to the 1962 Orange Bowl, and played for three seasons in the Canadian Football League with Ottawa and Calgary before a knee injury forced him to retire in 1967. His post-football life led him to eventually become Vice President of Operations at Bergen Pines Hospital and then back to Colorado to become the Director of the Alumni C Club until retiring in 2010. He received the Bergen County National Football Foundation's Distinguished American Award in 2001.
April 10: Tom Kaechele, 64
Tom Kaechele had a wonderful administrative and coaching career, spending the last 24 years of his life as the much-respected and beloved Old Tappan Athletic Director and Supervisor of the Physical Education Department. A three-sport athlete at Pascack Valley High School, he played baseball at St. Thomas Aquinas, and ultimately coached the sport at Demarest High School and at Rutgers-Newark. He also coached the Belgian National Team and was part of USA Baseball for many years.
He led a wonderful athletic program at Old Tappan, which led to great success in football, girls basketball and volleyball, baseball and boys track and field among other sports. Their programs across the board were always consistent contenders for league and Bergen county honors. Kaechele served as President of the Bergen County Coaches Association and in several roles with the NJSIAA and helped oversee a major upgrade at the Golden Knights athletic fields.
July 6: Tony "Blues" Barbato, 75
They called him Blues or Bluesy, and there were many stories about how Barbato got the nickname. But there were many, many more stories of how he inspired several generations of Passaic High School athletes in sports as diverse as football and girls track. A graduate of West Orange High, where he excelled in football and baseball, Barbato went to Salem College in West Virginia where he played football.
He taught in Passaic for nearly four decades and coached football at Our Lady of the Valley High School as well as at Passaic. But in 1983 he was asked to start a girls track program. He added winter track and cross-country to his resume, and in the more than a quarter of a century that followed he led the Indians to 15 Passaic County championships in the three seasons, including nine in outdoor track. More than 50 of "Blue's girls", now successful in business, law and education led a memorial service later in July to honor their coach.
July 12: J.P. Pelzman, 57
J.P. Pelzman worked as a respected sports writer at multiple newspapers and websites after his graduation from Hofstra University in 1986. He spent nearly 20 years as a reporter with The Record, before leaving for the Asbury Park Press and eventually Newsday. At The Record he covered many beats, starting off by covering high schools and moving on to Rutgers, Seton Hall University, the Jets and the Mets.
Upon his passing, The Record's Executive Editor, Dan Sforza called him, "A fixture in The Record newsroom. He was dedicated and passionate about his craft and was a wonderful colleague.''
He was a friendly, hard-working man who never took a short cut in producing stories read by thousands of readers wherever he went.
Aug. 5: Ray Siegrist, 74
Dr. Siegrist, who received his doctorate in education from Montclair State University, enjoyed a long and successful coaching and teaching career at Demarest High School before retiring in 2006. He coached cross-country and track at Demarest from 1973 to 2006, including 21 years as the boys cross-country coach, winning more than 170 dual meets, six league titles, five sectional titles and four Bergen County group titles. He also won more than 100 meets as the girls cross-country coach.
A member of the Demarest High School Hall of Fame, he excelled in cross-country and track at Watchung Hills H.S., winning the 1966 state group 3 indoor 1,000 yards title. He then ran at Lycoming College before starting his teaching career at Demarest in 1970. He served as the Executive Treasurer of the Bergen County Coaches Association for many years, was an official at the Millrose Games for many years and was the 2001 New Jersey and Northeastern Coach of the Year in cross-country as selected by the National Federation of High Schools. After retiring from Demarest, he was a professor at SUNY Oneonta for 16 years.
Sept. 22: Robert Wood, 87
Coach Wood only stayed at Westwood for five years before moving on to Kinnelon and then spending the rest of his coaching and teaching career at Pearl River (N.Y.) but he made a lasting impression on the students at Westwood, starting the cross-country program and leading the Cardinals to the 1963 group 2 state title, the only one in program history.
According to Robert "Sandy" Randall, a member of that great team, he stayed in touch with the boys on the team, who called themselves "Speedo's boys" in honor of their coach's proclivity of having a heavy foot on the gas pedal when he was late to school or to a meet. The Cardinals won that 1963 title by a whopping 87 points, still one of the largest margins in state history.
Oct. 1: John Dye, 86
It's unlikely John Dye ever set foot in North Jersey. But his impact on track and field in the area and nationally is truly unique. Dye, a government auditor living in a Maryland suburb of Washington D.C. loved sports and numbers and when his son Derek and daughter Natalie won state class championships in the high jump and pole vault respectively in 1997, he researched all other state meets and began a National top 100 list in each effort that quickly morphed into Dyestat.
He created a website, added articles and a message board and suddenly athletes all over the country had an almost instantaneous way to compare themselves with their peers nationally. The site grew and at one point was acquired by ESPN, which proved unfortunate because of the corporate nature of the site. It still exists through its successor FloTrack and paved the way for modern sites like MileSplit which provide significant coverage for all track and cross-country athletes. Dye was inducted into the first class of the National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2018.
Oct. 6: William Borgerson, 21
The third of four Borgerson brothers who helped the Westwood football team become one of the best public school programs year in and year out during the 21st Century, as an outstanding linebacker and fullback. Following his graduation from Westwood, he enlisted in the Army and became a member of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force. He died in a tragic shooting accident while on active duty.
Nov. 7: Morgan Horner, 39
Horner had one of the greatest seasons in New Jersey wrestling history in 2001. The Hasbrouck Heights senior went 35-0 to become the second of only three Aviators to win a state championship. He reached the finals despite breaking his nose in his semifinal win at the Continental Arena in the Meadowlands and then had to face defending state champion Chris Skretkowicz of Wallkill Valley, who had not surrendered a takedown all season.
With his nose glued closed so he could only breathe through his mouth, he took his opponent down twice in the first 45 seconds and then pinned him, winning Most Outstanding Wrestler honors and completing an undefeated season. He went 119-13 in his high school career with 96 pins and was named to the Hasbrouck Heights Hall of Fame. He wrestled at Division II power Lock Haven Street reaching the NCAA top 12 twice and went on to complete two tours of duty in the U.S. Army.
Nov. 9: Charlie Hofsaes, 87
"Coach Hofs" didn't move to Bergen County until after he had graduated from Mt. St. Michael Academy in the Bronx and Rutgers University. He moved to Saddle Brook in the early 1970s and became an assistant baseball coach in 1981 before switching to softball where he coached at Saddle Brook, Paramus Catholic, Ramsey and Ramapo. He won the Bergen County Women's Coaches Association Unsung Hero award and hosted the Hofs Classic Softball for more than a decade.
But Hofsaes may have been best known in the North Jersey sports world as a super-fan. If there was a game and he wasn't coaching, he was there. Football, basketball, baseball, softball, even track and field, you name it Coach Hofs was there. He spent his professional career as a sales representative for Texaco and then spent most of his time supporting the athletes of Bergen County. He also served in the U.S. Army and the National Guard.
Nov. 28: Billy Walker, 75
There was no better sprinter in Bergen County high school track and field in the 20th Century than Walker, who was unanimously elected to the Record's All-Century team in 1999 after an illustrious career that included a pair of indoor state group 3 60 yard dash championships and a four-time 100 and 220 yard state champion outdoors at the state Group 3 championships.
Walker probably would have made it three in a row as a senior but unfortunately suffered a significant leg injury which kept him from competing for a third straight championship and a showdown with fellow All-American Billy Gaines of Clearview. He went on to run at Texas Southern University and eventually made his way to South Carolina, where he worked and raised a wonderful family of four children and nine grandchildren.
Dec. 12: Bob Murphy, 82
You wouldn't think that a basketball, football and baseball player from Park Ridge High School who swam competitively at St. Bonaventure University would become the coach of the track and field team that not only was voted the greatest Bergen County team of the 20th Century but by many measures is still considered one of the greatest teams in New Jersey state history but that was Bob Murphy's legacy.
He was the first coach at SJR and in his 12 years as the coach before moving on to North Rockland H.S. where he spent his final 29 years coaching and teaching before retiring in 2002. He's in the SJR and North Rockland Halls of Fame.
Bob's teams won three state championships in State Non-Public A competition and nearly won a fourth. The Green Knights' 1969 team was named Team of the Century and featured three members of the Record's All-Century team, thrower Steve Adams, hurdler John Bykowsky and sprinter Bob Hauk, who all earned All-American status. Nearly 50 years after he left the school, nearly half of all the school individual and relay records still remain.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Remembering who we lost in North Jersey athletics in 2022
