Alfred D. "Big Al" Santie, 57, Popular East Providence (RI) Coach
Richard
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By Richard Salit
Providence Journal Staff Writer
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI - It looked like a block party on Pine Crest Drive
on Monday night. Cars lined the road and a growing crowd of people
milled around the street.
But the mood was somber. People had come in grief, some hoping the
rumors weren't true - that beloved Riverside native and sports icon
Alfred D. "Big Al" Santie had died. The impromptu gathering was a
testament to the tight bonds in this village and the popularity of one
of its best known youth sports coaches.
While Santie's friends, players and fellow coaches gathered outside
his home and the reality of his death slowly sank in, funeral-home
workers carried his body out of the house. The police officers who had
been providing traffic control formed a line and saluted.
"They all stood there as if the president was being carried between
them," said longtime friend Ronald Silva, who was among those who
rushed to Santie's home Monday evening.
Santie, 57, was found dead at home earlier in the day. He had a
history of heart trouble and diabetes, said Silva, but he never let
either keep him from doing what he loved most and what he had been
doing for 31 years: coaching youth sports.
Unlike those who turned out in front of his house on Monday, Santie
never seemed sad or down, not even when doctors had to amputate one of
his legs below the knee three years ago. He always maintained a big
smile, surrounded by a horseshoe mustache.
"He's just a trouper. He had an attitude second to none," said Silva.
Described by Silva as a "pied piper" to Riverside children, the
friendly and fun-loving Santie coached baseball, football and
basketball teams. Old and young alike knew him as Big Al, a name that
evoked not only his burly frame but his larger-than-life personality
and his involvement in so many popular sports.
Santie never married or had children, but he seemed to adopt the
players, parents and coaches as family and vice versa. He would lead
them on camping outings and to the Basketball Hall of Fame or join a
family on its trip to Washington, D.C. If a child needed a ride, he
would give them one. If they didn't have something to eat, he'd buy
them a sandwich. And in the years since Santie lost part of his leg,
families would check on him and bring him prepared meals. It wasn't
surprising, then, that it was a child visiting Santie who first
discovered his body on Monday.
"He loved the kids and the kids loved him. They idolized him," said
Silva, who coached with Santie for 20 years. "Every parent entrusted
their kids to him without question."
Neil Harrington, a former player, admired Santie so much he would join
him off the field.
"Once you got to know him you wanted to spend time with him because he
was such an enjoyable guy. We used to play Trivial Pursuit at his
house, me and a couple of kids," he said.
Santie would go to Harrington's games at La Salle and stayed in touch
with him when his former player went to college.
"He was always bothering me, saying, 'When you get out, you're
coaching with me,' " Harrington recalled.
Santie was right. Harrington, now 24, joined the coaching staff of his
Pop Warner Football team after he graduated.
"I learned a lot as a kid, not just athletic-wise but him being a
positive figure," he said.
Despite all his years of coaching, Santie could usually remember a
child's name or something about them.
"He always cared more about the kids first," said Harrington.
"Nowadays you see the coaches get in kids faces. [For Santie] it was
always about kids learning the game and enjoying themselves. He always
knew that winning wasn't the most important thing."
Last night, practice went on without Santie, with league officials
paying tribute beforehand to Santie.
Santie, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, worked for
the East Providence water division for 25 years, retiring in 1992. He
didn't have a lot of money and lived modestly, always driving around a
big old truck, most recently a GMC Suburban, said Silva. But his work
hours allowed him to coach, and he always seemed to have money to
spend on a kid who needed some help, Silva said.
When Santie's leg was amputated in 2004 and his savings were being
diminished by a 10-month stay in the nursing home, Silva organized a
fundraising 55th birthday party for Santie. More than 300 people
attended the function.
Being in the nursing home "didn't stop him," said Silva. He simply
held coaches' meetings at the home and "someone would come up and pick
him and take him to the games. They would bring him to the games in
the wheelchair."
"We're assuming it was a heart attack," said Silva, who had spoken to
Santie's brother, Frank.
Santie had strived to lose weight and modify his diet, but he never
lost his passion for dining out, said Silva.
"He would give you driving directions based on restaurants. He knew
these places. He was Italian. He loved to eat," said Silva. "His life
revolved around kids and food."
In fact, that's how the two met. Silva was working at the Coney Island
System in Riverside Square, which Santie frequented.
"Big Al used to come in. He was the kind of guy everyone used to joke
with and busted his chops," he said. "That's how we met. A little
later on I was coaching Little League. I had just gotten a team and I
didn't have a coach."
That launched Santie's coaching career and the two men's lasting
friendship.
Santie, named to the East Providence High School Hall of Fame in 1996,
also found another avenue to devote himself to children. He served as
a teacher's aide at St. Brendan Church, where he coached a CYO
basketball team. There he earned the nickname "Master of Recess."
On Sunday, Santie's team pulled off a victory, improving its record to
3-3. It was the last game Santie would coach.
"He had told us this was going to be his last year coaching football,
which was kind of bumming us all out that he wasn't going to be back,"
said Harrington.
But there was no reason to believe he was ailing, which is why so many
people turned out at his house in dismay on Monday, said Harrington.
"Everyone was just floored by the news of it," he said. "It was a
really sad night for Riverside."
http://www.projo.com/ri/eastprovidence/content/EB_BIGAL10_10-10-07_TU7E6K4.2afdb82.html