Joseph DiMaio, then-president of the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education, prepares to distribute diplomas at JHS Commencement at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater with board vice president Paul Abbott. DiMaio, a beloved coach and public servant, passed away on Monday, Nov. 17 at the age of 78.
Former teacher, football coach, and Jamestown School Board member Joe DiMaio is being remembered after he died Monday, November 17.
DiMaio was 78 years old.
A 1965 graduate of Jamestown High School, DiMaio served as a health teacher in the Jamestown Public Schools system from 1972 until his retirement from JHS in 2003. He served as an assistant football coach at then-Lincoln Junior High School from 1976 to 1979 and served as the head football coach from 1979 to 1981. In 1981, he joined the varsity football program at Jamestown High School as an assistant coach, serving in that capacity until 2003. In that time, he helped lead the program to a state title appearance in 1993 and three state championships in 1994, 1995, and 2000.
Following his retirement, DiMaio was elected to the Jamestown School Board in 2004, spending 12 years as a Board of Education member and serving as the board’s president for four of those years.
Current Board President Paul Abbott was a member of the Jamestown High School varsity football team in the mid-1980s, “So, I’ve known him since then. And, you know, right then you just knew he was a great guy, and he cared a lot about his players, and just the kind of person you were happy to play for.”
Abbott said when he became interested in possibly running for school board, DiMaio took him under his wing, “And talk to me about the whole thing. And then, as a new board member later on, when Joe became president, I served as his vice president for a little while as well. So you know, I was fortunate to know him as a student and also as a colleague on the school board.”
During DiMaio’s tenure on the school board, he received the Western New York Educational Service Council’s Award of Excellence for Board of Education Member. The year he retired from the board, DiMaio was awarded by the New York State School Board Association with its prestigious Everett R. Dyer Award for Distinguished School Board Service.
In 2019, Jamestown Public Schools recognized DiMaio with the Distinguished Contributor Award and hung his portrait in the Kathman Administration Building.
Abbott said DiMaio’s passing leaves a void in the school community, “You know, those shoes can’t be filled. They broke the mold when they made Joe DiMaio. I think as sad as we all are, those of us who were fortunate enough to know him feel blessed and lucky that he was in our lives.”
The funeral for Joe DiMaio will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, November 22 on Strider Field. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Joseph DiMaio Fund, c/o Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.
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