RICH FORNARO, SR. COACH YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2009 Some people just rise to the top of any situation. The late Richard Fornaro was just such a person who would not settle for anything less than the upper level. Even as an assistant coach at Steinert from 1966-1975, Fornaro had to be the best assistant coach he could be while juggling other important roles as a family man and an educator. “Football coach is the memory most others had of my dad from his years at Steinert, not at all minimizing his impact as a teacher,” said his son Richard D. Fornaro. “The football field was his place and football was his game and coaching was his passion.” From 1967-1978, Fornaro was a football coach and he also worked for several years with the track and field program and also with the basketball program. His son, who tagged along with his dad to practices and games, is right when he says Fornaro is best remembered as a football coach. But there is so much more to the man who also was a national speed skating champion in 1955 and an all-star running back during his high-school days at Pleasantville in South Jersey. He also was a track and field official and refereed football and basketball. "My lasting impression of my father at Steinert is that he was first an educator," said his son. "He thought teaching was a profession of the highest calling, and believed by working with young people he could have a real influence on how the future would be. He loved teaching at Steinert." During his 30-plus-year career as an educator, Fornaro was a health and physical education instructor and also worked with the driver education/driver simulator program. An MVP award is given out in his name to a top player in the annual Thanksgiving Day cross-town rivalry. Photo at top left: Accepting the HOF award for Richard Fornaro, Sr. is his son, Richard Fornaro, Jr. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE