Saul Nechtem, athlete, mentor in Chelsea
A star athlete at Chelsea High School in the 1930s, Saul Nechtem returned to the school after college and became a revered coach and athletic director there for the next half century.
"I always looked up to him, like many other kids from Chelsea who didn't have much," said Frank DePatto, the current athletic director at Chelsea High, who played on Mr. Nechtem's teams in the 1950s. "Anytime you talked about sports, his name always came up as one of the greatest all-around athletes. He was a legend."
Mr. Nechtem died Thursday at his home in Chelsea. He was 91.
Arnie Goodman, who played for Mr. Nechtem's basketball teams at Chelsea High in the late 1940s and '50s, recalled that "he could take almost anything, from a football to a basketball to a ping-pong paddle, to a tennis racquet, and just do magic with it."
Goodman remembered students were often in awe of him.
"We used to have a break in practice, and while others might have gone back to the locker room, I sat on the bench on the side of the court to watch him shoot two-handed set shots," he said. "He shot with poise and grace. He was like an antelope, graceful, coordinated, smooth, not to mention that he looked like Burt Lancaster, a handsome man."
Born in Chelsea, Mr. Nechtem graduated from Chelsea High School in 1935 after leading the school's basketball team to the state championship.
"He was inarguably the finest athlete to come out of this city in 100 years," said Josh Resnek, editor of the Chelsea Record newspaper. "He wasn't just another athlete; he was the best to ever come out of Chelsea."
Mr. Nechtem went on to attend Boston University, earning 12 varsity letters in four sports: football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. Mr. Nechtem accomplished the feat in just three years, because freshmen did not play on varsity teams at the time.
Mr. Nechtem was named an All-American in football and basketball, as well as a Jewish All-American, and held the high jump record at the school until the early 1960s.
He earned a bachelor's degree in 1939 and went on to earn a master's in education and a certificate of advanced graduate studies at the school. He was later part of the original induction class when Boston University created an athletics Hall of Fame.
After he completed his degrees, Mr. Nechtem became a a lieutenant in the US Navy during World War II, serving as a communications officer in the South Pacific under Admiral William Halsey.
Mr. Nechtem played for the Boston Goodwins semipro basketball team and considered offers to play professional football and baseball.
But his son, Todd, of Topsfield, said that staying in his native Chelsea and working with children were Mr. Nechtem's passions, so he chose to focus his career on Chelsea High School.
Mr. Nechtem also worked as a basketball official and devoted his summers to working as a camp director with boys ages 8 to 21, first at Camp Manitou in Oakland, Maine, from 1947 to 1970 and then at Camp Bauercrest in Amesbury, from 1970 to 1990.
"When he came to Bauercrest, he helped change the whole complexion of it," recalled his son, who attended the all-boys camp and serves on its board of directors. "From there, it expanded to the point where there were waiting lists in the 1980s and 1990s."
While Mr. Nechtem was remembered at Bauercrest for an unusual feat -- he would kick a basketball from half court through the basket -- he was well known around Chelsea, too, so much so that when Mr. Nechtem sold the house in which he and his wife lived for more than 50 years, it was a story in the Chelsea Record.
"Everybody in Chelsea, even the current generation of people, they have an idea of who he was," said Goodman, a features editor for the Record.
Mr. Nechtem and his wife, Gladys, whom he had known since elementary school, had celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in June.
"Everybody has a Saulie story," said his son. "He touched a lot of kids' lives, from the Chelsea school system to the camping he did. He accomplished a lot in his life, but was always very humble. We all learned a great deal from him, to keep things in perspective, be honest, and do the right thing."
Mr. Nechtem was a member of B'nai B'rith, the New England Sports Lodge, the Greater Boston League of Athletic Directors, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, and the Jewish War Veterans.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Nechtem leaves two daughters, Amy of Swampscott and Karen Shone of Scituate, and five grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. tomorow in Temple Emmanuel in Chelsea. Burial will be in Temple Emmanuel Cemetery, Danvers. 