Tony Marmo, 90; founded girl's hockey team in Hub
Whether coaching the Massport Jets women's hockey team, volunteering for the disabled at the Life Focus Center in Charlestown, arranging a concert on Revere Beach, or supporting a political candidate, Anthony Marmo always went all out.
"He had a strong, vibrant personality, loved to organize, and was a real giver, and he never cared if people knew what he was doing," said Mr. Marmo's daughter, Astrid Noltemy of Dover. "He could be a bull in a china shop if he was told something couldn't be done. That would just make him work even harder."
Mr. Marmo, a 1987 inductee to the Boston Park League baseball Hall of Fame who founded the Massport Jets hockey team, one of the first girls hockey teams in the nation, and the East Boston Tornadoes semipro football team, died Tuesday of heart failure at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 90.
A Uniontown, Pa., native who graduated from East Boston High School in 1935 and lived in Winthrop for the past 60 years, Mr. Marmo was "a Bill Belichick kind of leader," said Life Focus Center cofounder Jack Millerick, referring to the highly successful coach of the New England Patriots.
"I met Tony about 25 years ago when [former state Senate president Bob Travaglini, his close friend, was elected to the City Council, and when Tony learned about our center he became our godfather. He used to say 'do it my way and you'll win' and he was right," recalled Millerick.
"Tony never wanted a title. He was one of those forces of nature who got things done. One time we needed a large hall with wheelchair access, and Tony got one for us in Orient Heights, along with a [disc jockey] who we still hire today. When food contributions came in, it was usually from Tony, who would always ask what we needed."
Mr. Marmo worked as an auto mechanic at a garage in Day Square in East Boston before becoming a housing inspector for the City of Boston, a job he retired from in 1985. He also was active in political campaigns for several gubernatorial and senatorial candidates, including his boyhood friend Edward King, and his "surrogate son," Travaglini, who helped him coach the Massport Jets.
"My father always had causes. He was also very involved in the revival of Revere Beach, in supporting the Fair Food program in Boston, and in founding the North Shore Recreation and Social Center," said his daughter. The center was a summer program for more than 1,000 youth at the Metropolitan District Commission's Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink in East Boston, she said.
"He helped organize activities there ranging from swimming and sailing lessons to how to repair cars."
Mr. Marmo, later in life, enjoyed walking along Revere Beach with friends.
"Tony never quit on a project," said lifelong friend Bob Furlong, an assistant to Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino of Revere, "whether it was to get a playground built or opposing flight paths over Winthrop, Chelsea, or Revere."
He was passionate about sports and in providing equal opportunity for women long before the passage of Title IX, which called for equal access to sports for girls. That commitment stemmed from his childhood, he told the Globe in 2003.
"I had four sisters and it always bothered me that they never had the opportunities that we boys had," Mr. Marmo said.
The Massport Jets were founded in 1970 and practiced at the Porrazzo rink. They were partially sponsored by the Massachusetts Port Authority.
The Jets won tournaments across North America, including the first national Girls' Invitational Hockey Tournament, held at Cornell University in 1973.
The success of the Jets spurred Mr. Marmo to launch the American Girls Hockey Association on the North Shore.
Mr. Marmo petitioned the International Olympic Committee to include women's hockey in the 1976 Games, but their participation didn't become official for 22 years. Jets memorabilia are currently housed at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute as part of its History of Women in America collection and at the Sports Museum of New England in Boston. It is also honored in the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada.
"Tony was the best kind of sports hero," said Sports Museum curator Dick Johnson. "He created a national championship program, and he was very proud of his pioneering team. He is one of the reasons Boston is the best hockey city in America."
Rita Roberto, a defenseman who wore number 4 because of Bobby Orr's popularity, first played for the Jets in 1973. She said Mr. Marmo and Travaglini would often reach into their own pockets if players could not afford to travel to tournaments.
"Tony was our father figure," said Roberto, who operates the family-owned Spinelli's ravioli and pastry shop in East Boston and its catering branch in Lynnfield. "He was devoted to us."
Mr. Marmo also was a standout shortstop for the Boston Park League's 1948 and 1949 championship winning Crown Burners from East Boston. "Tony also served on our Hall of Fame committee," said Park League secretary-treasurer Walt Mortimer, "and he was no shrinking violet. He always let you know there were some great players from East Boston. But he always mentioned them instead of himself. He was very unselfish."
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Marmo leaves his wife of more than 60 years, Naomi (Ghelfi) of Winthrop; another daughter, Jane Chmielinski of Winthrop; two brothers, Frederick of Wakefield and Joseph of Idaho Falls, Idaho; and two sisters, Antoinette Parmet of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Rose Tirrell of Nahant.
A funeral Mass will be said today at 10 a.m. in Holy Rosary Church in Winthrop. Burial will be at Winthrop Cemetery. 