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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Pasquale "Pat" D'Auria (Deceased)
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Home Phone: 845-596-4978 Submitted by son, Patrick. He was such a wonderful gentleman. His legacy lives on in his children and grandchildren. Also, in his former students. When he passed in in 2004 a group of former football players that he coached all showed up in there football jackets circa 1950’s, all were standing around his coffin and were recounting how tough he was but fair. There faces seemed to shed away the years as they spoke of him and the youth returned to there faces. His boxing skills never left him, we had a speed bag in the basement and as good as I got on it I never could match his skill. He could still punch it with authority well into his late seventies!! Dad also spoke of many of the people he played sports with and one name always came up was Glen Abel-he always referred to him as a Prince of a Man. His respect for him as a person and athlete was head and shoulders above the rest. I saw that Coach Abel passed a few years ago. It was I sure a wonderful reunion of men of integrity from the greatest generation. Please pass along my thoughts of the Coach to his family. Submitted by Patrick on Aug. 08, 2010 * * * * * * * * * * Posted 2010/08/07 and submitted by his son, Patrick. My Father attended Southwestern (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) from 1938 to 1940. He always spoke so fondly of his time there. Pasquale “Pat†D’Auria Harrison-Stone-Jackson Junior College Sept. 7, 1936 – June 3, 1938 Football, baseball and boxing In the fall of 1936, with $110 in his pocket, a young man boarded a bus in Nyack, N.Y., bound for the University of Alabama. His goal was to play college football, but when Pasquale “Pat†D’Auria didn’t meet Alabama’s height and weight requirements, he continued his bus ride south and enrolled at then Harrison-Stone-Jackson Junior College. And instantly, Alabama’s loss became our gain, as D’Auria took Perkinston by storm. D’Auria, who died in December 2004, had already established an impressive athletic record at Nyack High School, excelling in boxing and as a two time All-County shortstop and an All-County running back in football. He continued this tradition while at Perkinston, lettering in boxing, football and baseball. The Daily Herald called D’Auria “a brilliant drop-kicker,†as he converted 19 extra points for the Bulldogs in two years. His efforts helped Gulf Coast secure the 1936 State Championship with a 7-0-1 record. D’Auria’s leadership ability could also be seen on the baseball diamond. As the starting third-baseman in 1937, he helped the Bulldogs win the South Division title, and his teammates elected him team captain in 1938. Equally diverse in the academic arena, D’Auria was active in five organizations at the college, serving as an officer in three. It’s easy to see why his peers voted him Best College Freshman in 1937 and Best Sport in 1938. He accepted a boxing scholarship to Southwestern Louisiana State College and took on contenders from across the South, including a draw with the SEC boxing champ in 1940. He also lettered in baseball at Southwestern, hitting .457 one year, and was drafted by the Yankees. D’Auria played one year of minor league baseball in Port Arthur, Texas, and that’s when he knew he belonged in the classroom. “I had my teaching contract in my back pocket, and when the batting averages came out in the paper and I saw I was hitting .210, I figured it was time to get on with teaching,†he once said. World War II delayed his plan for five years, as D’Auria served his country in the Army Air Corps and attained the rank of staff sergeant. While in the service, he also played and coached on a fast-pitch softball team that won the USO championship. Returning to Nyack in 1946, D’Auria dedicated his life to education for more than three decades, serving as a teacher, guidance counselor and assistant football coach. He was also dedicated to his beloved wife of 53 years, Katherine, and their five children. D’Auria was active in all phases of his community, coaching Little League and participating in local politics and church organizations. He also attended Fordham University and Seton Hall University to earn his advanced degrees. D’Auria’s son, Patrick B. D’Auria, shared one of his favorite anecdotes about his father’s Bulldog days. It seems his father was granted special permission by Superintendent Cooper J. Darby to graduate, despite still owing $5 to the college. Patrick recalls, “The superintendent let him graduate without paying it, with the promise that my father would send the money at a later date. He did. This is a code that my father lived by his whole life
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