Frank Zoltek, 63
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Frank Zoltek, who coached and taught generations of North Berkshire students, was remembered yesterday as someone who helped to mold many young people.
Mr. Zoltek, 63, died Friday after suffering a heart attack while fly fishing in Charlemont on the Deerfield River.
North Adams Mayor John Barrett III said Zoltek will be remembered as a great coach who touched the lives of hundreds of kids through the years.
"He knew how to motivate kids," he said. "It's a loss felt very deeply in the community. He loved working with the kids, and that's what he did all his life."
Mr. Zoltek had retired from teaching last year, but was still coaching the Drury High School golf team this spring. Friends thought something was wrong when Mr. Zoltek, who had gone on a fishing excursion Friday, missed a match between Drury and Pittsfield High School that afternoon.
A state police sergeant at the Shelburne barracks said he apparently died of a heart attack.
Francis Albert Zoltek of 134 Glen Ave. was born in Adams on Oct. 10, 1941, son of Albert and Helen Oslizlo Zoltek. He attended St. Stanislaus' School and graduated in 1959 from the former Adams High School, where he was a star athlete on the basketball and baseball teams. He attended St. Anselm's College in Manchester, N.H., and graduated in 1965 from the former North Adams State College. He was a member of the basketball team and held the school scoring record for many years.
He won the Lou Parisien Award at NASC, and was chosen All-New England for basketball. He is now eighth on the school's career scoring list, with 1,366 points. He is third for points in a season, scoring 585 in 1962-63.
He began his coaching career as a basketball assistant at the former St. Joseph's High School in North Adams under another legendary coach, the late Frank J. Matrango, and replaced him when Matrango left to become the area's state representative. He was also head baseball coach.
"[Mr. Zoltek] stepped into the toughest job anyone could have been in," Barrett said. "It was like someone who would have to follow Dean Smith at [the University of North Carolina]. But Frank stepped into it."
Mr. Zoltek was head basketball coach at North Adams State during the 1970s and also was a golf coach there. During the 1980s, he was the head basketball coach for Drury, where his teams won four Western Massachusetts titles. In 1988, Drury made it to the state championship game, where it lost by two points.
During the 1990s, Mr. Zoltek became an assistant coach at Williams College under Harry Sheehy. Williams made it to the NCAA Division 3 Final Four in both 1997 and 1998.
Barrett noted that other coaches often called on him to help through the years. "The kids respected him," he said. "And, more importantly, his peers did, too."
Mr. Zoltek was a physical education teacher at Brayton Elementary School, then Conte Middle School, from which he retired in 2004.
He owned and operated the former Pop's Variety Store from 1981 until selling the business in 1995 to return to teaching.
He was first employed as a teacher at St. Joseph's for a few years, then was the athletic director at Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vt., for several years.
Following that, he returned to North Adams and was employed as a physical education teacher at the former North Adams Middle School, now Conte, for five years.
Mr. Zoltek was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching basketball. He especially enjoyed fly fishing and tying flies. He also was an accomplished golfer.
He was a member of the Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown and a former member of the North Adams Country Club, where he had been a club champion. He was a member of the North Adams State College and the Adams High School athletic halls of fame. He also was a member of the Berkshire County Deputy Sheriffs' Association.
He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and enjoyed spending time with his daughters and sons-in-law.
He and his wife, the former Susan J. Elder, were married June 29, 1968, in St. Francis' Church.
Besides his wife, he leaves two daughters, Sherri A. Tracey and her husband, Douglas, of San Diego and Heather S. Regan and her husband, Dennis, of South Boston; a sister, Mary Belding of Adams, a granddaughter, Jillian Ella Tracey, and nieces and nephews.
A brother, Albert "Tootsie" Zoltek is deceased.
FUNERAL NOTICE — The funeral for Mr. Zoltek will take place Tuesday, May 10, at 9 at FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS WEST CHAPELS, 521 West Main St., North Adams, followed by a Funeral Mass celebrated at 10 at St. Stanislaus' Church in Adams by the Rev. Daniel J. Boyle, pastor.
Burial will follow in the family lot in Southview Cemetery, North Adams. Calling hours at the funeral home will be Monday from 4 to 8. Donations to the Frank Zoltek Memorial Scholarship in care of the funeral home.