AMHERST — He was known as “Father of Amherst Baseball,” or simply “Mr. Baseball,” to many in the community.
But Stanley P. Ziomek, who died July 6 of complications from surgery at 92, leaves a legacy of service to his hometown that goes well beyond his six decades as president of Amherst Baseball, including a long tenure as superintendent of the Department of Public Works and twice serving as acting town manager, as well as promoting development of recreational sites and being the Rotary Club of Amherst’s sergeant at arms.
“Stan’s death is a tremendous loss for his family, and also a loss for the town which he served with dedication as an employee, volunteer and a caring neighbor,” said Select Board member Andrew Steinberg. “He exemplified community service. Amherst is a better place because of his tireless efforts.”
“It’s hard to imagine Amherst without him” said former Select Board Chairwoman Stephanie O’Keeffe, describing him as the tie that binds many different aspects of the town.
Ziomek was instrumental in promoting numerous recreation proposals that won support from Town Meeting, including the creation of Groff Park in South Amherst, Mill River Recreation Area in North Amherst and War Memorial Pool at Community Field, which opened in 1955, as well as acquiring the land for the Plum Brook soccer fields.
His legacy is a community that is better for all his work in terms of the physical environment and the people he inspired and mentored in every discipline, O’Keeffe said.
“I wouldn’t use the term ‘legend’ lightly,” O’Keeffe added. “He really was the heartbeat of the community through his long service in town government, public works, youth sports and Rotary that quite literally shaped the community we know and love in so many ways.”
Former Town Manager Barry Del Castilho said in an email that Ziomek was well known in both Amherst and across the state for his varied roles.
“Stan was a giant figure in Amherst and Massachusetts — many, many years of public service in Amherst, civic service through Rotary, and, most important to him, I know, service to kids through baseball,” Del Castilho said. “People thought of him as a Red Sox fan, which he was, but he once told me that his love of baseball was not so much for the Red Sox as for the kids.”
Barry Roberts, president of Amherst Business Improvement District’s board of directors, said he got to know Ziomek as co-chairman of the 250th Anniversary Committee.
“He’s going to be missed” Roberts said “He was a patriarch and great town supporter.”
In fact, during the town’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2009, Ziomek and Steve Puffer, who died in 2011, served as parade marshals and were pulled in a horse-drawn wagon driven by Roberts.
Ziomek was also part of the Rotary Club for more than half the 90 years it has existed.
Andy Jones, chairman of the Rotary’s scholarship committee, said Ziomek was the rock of the organization that sponsors the annual community fair and puts on other fundraising events.
When the Rotary set up a fundraising committee to restore the Enos Cook Fountain at Sweeter Park, Jones said, he remembers Ziomek doing significant work to bring in the needed money.
In 1949, Ziomek became the second employee of the town’s Recreation Department and continued to have a role in town government through June 2014, when he stepped down as chairman of the town’s Leisure Services and Supplemental Education Commission.
A proclamation adopted by the Select Board more than a year earlier, on April 22, 2013, named April 27, 2013, as Stanley P. Ziomek Day. The baseball field at Amherst Regional High School already bears his name.
Ziomek, who was born on an Amherst farm, was one of six children. He and his wife, Beverly, also raised six sons.
Dan Ziomek said his father touched more lives than can ever be known. “My dad gave himself to the town for many years,” he said. “He put that first, almost above anything else, and hopefully he’ll be remembered for that.”
In fact, when Amherst was a much smaller community, many people remember approaching Ziomek when they arrived.
“My reflection is he was a pillar of the community for so many years,” said Peter Ziomek. “So many people have told us in recent days that when they came to town they went to Stan for everything.”
Though he didn’t have advanced college degrees — having attended Stockbridge School — Andrew Ziomek said his father ably led the DPW and served as tree warden.
“That speaks to his intelligence,” Andrew Ziomek said.
David Ziomek, who is assistant town manager and director of conservation and development for Amherst, said it’s easy to point to properties where his father was instrumental in projects happening, from the creation of Mill River Recreation Area in the early 1970s, building of the wastewater treatment plant and the more recent restorations of War Memorial Pool, and the development on the Hawthorne Farm property where affordable housing is being built.
“His presence at Town Meeting during the Hawthorne and War Memorial Pool discussions is something I’ll always remember,” David Ziomek said. “He helped frame the issues so well and the respect the body showed to him was quite extraordinary.”
Twice Stan Ziomek served as acting town manager. “He was very proud to be asked to step up and lead the town,” David Ziomek said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.