Let’s hear it for the coach
Published on December 4th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The image of Henry “Bob” Margarita has taken on many different shapes and meanings during his legendary tenure of education, coaching and support of the students at Stoneham High School. “Coach” or Mr. Margarita, as he is known to so many that walked the corridors of Stoneham High, was still a young man of 44 years, handsome and strong, when he first joined Stoneham in 1964 as the head football coach and history teacher.
Many more remember Margarita as the gray-haired, bespectacled grand-fatherly equipment manager for the Stoneham athletic department; the high school kids would know he had arrived at school for the day when they heard him calling for his trusty yellow Labrador (first Luke, and now Root Beer) as he ambled down the halls toward the locker rooms in the basement. As equipment manager and the Spartans number one fan, Margarita was a constant at all manner of local sporting events.
He was a staple at the football games adjusting helmets and pads, or with his famous folding chair and prime parking spot for the Lady Spartan softball games.
The 82 year-old Margarita’s health has begun to betray him as emphasyma forced him to give up his days as equipment manager last spring, and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands keep him from one of his favorite pastimes: painting.
Health woes haven’t dulled Margarita’s sharp wit or his vivid memories of historical facts, and they couldn’t stop him from attending the Stoneham High pep rally last Wednesday.
Margarita attended the pre-Thanksgiving rally believing it to be a normal assembly before the big game. Only when he saw the honored guests, and some covered surprises, did he begin to suspect that something was awry.
Something was indeed awry, as Stoneham High officials took the pep rally as an opportune time to dedicate the Stoneham High weight room as the Henry “Bob” Margarita weight room, and to present Margarita with the first engraved Stoneham High alumnus rocking chair.
“I began to suspect something when I saw this rocking chair hidden under a sheet,” said Margarita as he sat in his comfortable new chair during an interview with the Stoneham Independent. “I was just so stunned when they started making the announcement about me.”
“I’ll always say that coming back to Stoneham to coach and teach was the best decision I could have ever made,” added Margarita in a sentiment he echoed at the dedication ceremony.
There is much more to the story of the man before, during and after his involvement with Stoneham athletics, but, to many observers, his legacy at Stoneham is something quite unique and precious.
“Bob Margarita represents the best that we have to offer as a staff here at Stoneham High School,” said Stoneham Athletic Director Mike Lahiff. “The one overriding thing about Bob was that he always put the kids first. He was always there with a kind word or a lollipop for the kids, and he was as ardent a supporter of Stoneham athletics as you’ll ever find.”
A few simple, and tragic, twists of fate brought Margarita to Stoneham High 38 years ago.
Margarita was born in 1920 and grew up as a celebrated athlete in Medford. He then attended Brown University and starred as a running back who set a record of 233 yards rushing in one game that stuck for 50 years.
Margarita, a history major at Brown, went on to play for the Chicago Bears in 1944 and 1945, and was an all-pro in 1945 as a running back and defensive back for the storied franchise.
“We all played both ways back then,” said Margarita.
Margarita played under the tutelage of the famous coach, George “Papa Bear” Halas, while he was in Chicago.
“Everyone thought he was this tough, stern man, but he was really very fair and was good to me,” said Margarita. “I remember one time when I had just been hit really hard for a loss in a game in Green Bay, and Coach Halas pulled me out of the game.”
“I’d thought I’d screwed up and I was so upset that I threw my helmet as I was coming off the field,” added Margarita, who said he normally tried to show no emotion on the field. “Halas looked at me, growled and told me to go pick up that helmet. Then he came over, put his hands on my shoulders and just looked at me. He wasn’t benching me...He was just making sure that I was alright after the big hit.”
Despite a great deal of success with the Bears, Margarita quit football after the 1945 season. One of Margarita’s sons was born with Spina Biffida, and Margarita needed to be closer to his family and required a greater salary than that furnished to pro football players in the 1940’s.
“I left the Bears to take a coaching job at BU that payed me $2,000 a year,” said Margarita. “I told the Bears about my situation, and they wrote back a really great letter and a check, above and beyond my football salary, for $500.”
Margarita then began a career in coaching that brought him to Georgetown, Yale, Boston University and Harvard before finally landing at Stoneham High in 1964.
“The best decision I ever made,” said Margarita. “This is a really great town with wonderful kids that come from really strong families. You don’t see graffiti and crime around here; it’s because there’s a lot of well-educated, good kids coming out of Stoneham.”
Margarita brought an appreciation for history and a willingness to adapt as head football coach in Stoneham. He would run the Wing-T or the Lonesome End or whatever system would work with the personnel he had.
“The one thing I would stress to the kids is that in football, just like in life, you can’t ever give up,” said Margarita. “There will be days when things don’t go your way, but you’ve got to keep pulling yourself up and fighting your way through.”
Stoneham Safety Officer Larry Rotondi was a member o the first class coached by Margarita in 1964, and still remembers many of the lessons from his days snaring passes for “Coach.”
“We lost a heartbreaker to Newburyport one year on a long touchdown pass at the end of the game,” said Rotondi. “I vividly remember the speech coach gave us after the game was over. He told us that we better not dare hang our heads because we’d given it our best out in the field.”
“He told us that if we always gave it our best shot, then we had nothing to be ashamed of,” said Rotondi. “He taught us lessons like that, and he always put the kids first, no matter what. He made each of us feel special.”
Margarita finished coaching in 1973, but continued on as equipment manager nearly another 20 years.
“I loved getting up every day and coming to school,” said Margarita. “I loved being with the kids, and still being involved with athletics.”
The draw of the weight room dedication was so great that it broke through the storied rivalry between Stoneham and Reading. Tom Kaprzak, Reading High football coach and former Stoneham High football coach, skipped his own pep rally to attend the festivities in Stoneham and congratulate Margarita.
Colleagues, old and new, showed up to honor their friend and brought to mind another story from Margarita’s early days as a coach. When he first arrived at Stoneham after his college coaching experience, he hadn’t experienced the fall jamboree that Stoneham used to participate in every year. The jamboree was a short 15 minute period against another team as a final dress-rehearsal before the season started.
“At point during the game, I was looking around to put some of the younger players in to get some time,” said Margarita. “A group of my players got my attention and told me that our playing period was over. I had no idea.”
Instead of players pointing out the end of regulation, this time it was colleagues, peers, family, friends, former students and players, all pointing out to “coach” the lasting influence and joy he has passed to each and every Stoneham High student for the last 38 years. Stoneham wouldn’t have been the same without him.
Subscribe and get Home Delivery of The Independent
Save 36% off the newstand price — that's like 18 FREE issues!