Alphonso Vitello, a former teacher, administrator and lifelong Derby resident, died Tuesday. He was 86.
Vitello, married to Eulalia “Yolie” Fanesi Vitello for 63 years, was born in Derby in 1923.
He attended Derby High School from 1937 to 1941. As a young Red Raider, Vitello played every sport he could, including football, baseball and track.
He was named the high school’s athlete of the year in 1941.
Vitello served in the Navy during World War II and received a bachelor’s degree from Providence College and a master’s degree from Columbia University.
He worked for 42 years in Derby Public Schools, from 1951 to 1993.
During that time, he chaired the high school’s social studies department, in addition to coaching baseball, basketball and football.
Last June, the Derby school board honored Vitello by naming the high school gym in his honor.
Vitello beamed with pride as he accepted a plaque from school board president Ken Marcucio, who once sat in classes taught by Vitello.
“As a father of three boys, you do a good job, hopefully — and I know that I did. I know I’m bragging a little bit, but I think I’ve earned it,” Vitello told the school board.
He then joked that his wife was more deserving of an award.
“It was very appropriate. I’m glad we did that,” Marcucio said Tuesday at Derby’s school board meeting, where there was a moment of silence in Vitello’s honor.