[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2123-E2124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO RUDY DEMAREST

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 29, 1997

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call your attention to Mr. 
Rudy Demarest as he is honored by the Old Timers Athletic Association 
of Greater Paterson. He is the recipient of the 1997 Lou Costello 
Athletic Memorial Award. This prestigious award is presented annually 
to individuals who have made a lifelong contribution to the sporting 
community of the Greater Paterson area. Rudy Demarest has earned this 
honor by serving as a baseball coach for over 60 years and providing a 
positive role model for the children of Paterson.
  Rudy was born and raised in Paterson. He attended Central High School 
and demonstrated a gift for coaching at a very young

[[Page E2124]]

age. As a freshman in 1933, Rudy coached the School 10 baseball team to 
the city championship. An athlete in his own right, Rudy was invited to 
train with a professional team in Florida in 1946. However, he was 
unwilling to leave his wife, who was pregnant with his first child, and 
remained in Paterson. Foregoing his own dreams of professional 
athletics, Rudy channeled his energies into coaching, serving the 
Paterson area in various capacities for 64 years. Those who have been 
taught the fundamentals of baseball by Rudy remember him fondly. He is 
well known as a coach that focused on the individual needs of each 
athlete, often treating them like members of his own family. Not 
surprisingly, Rudy often shocks former pupils by calling them by their 
first name, sometimes 20 or 30 years after he coached them.
  Rudy's distinguished career has been an unqualified success. For 14 
years, he volunteered his time as an assistant baseball coach at John 
F. Kennedy High School in Paterson. Still an active member of the 
Passaic County American Legion Baseball Committee, he coached the team 
for Raymond Pellington American Legion Post 260 for many years. Rudy's 
accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. In 1985, he was named 
Paterson's Youth Guidance Man of the Year. In 1987, Rudy was named the 
vice president of the Metropolitan Semi-Pro Baseball League. In 1993, 
he was named commissioner of that organization. In 1994, he was honored 
by the Passaic County Coaches Association, an organization of which he 
has been a lifelong member.
  In addition to his successes in coaching, Rudy is the proud father of 
four. Two of his progeny, son, Al, and granddaughter, Annette, have 
also been honored with awards from the Old Timers Athletic Association. 
The former driver for the Paterson News, Rudy also serves as president 
of the Senior Group of Our Lady of Pompei Roman Catholic Church.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me, our colleagues, Rudy's family 
and friends, the city of Paterson, and the hundreds of Paterson youth 
that have benefited from Rudy's guidance in recognizing the wisdom of 
the Old Timers Athletic Association's choice of Rudy Demarest as the 
1997 winner of the Lou Costello Athletic Memorial Award.

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