Obituary of Leonard A. Mattera

Leonard A. Mattera – Teacher, Coach and Mentor

Leonard A. (Lenny) Mattera passed away peacefully on March 15^th after a brief illness.  Lenny graduated from Plainview High School in 1961 and went to South Dakota Wesleyan College for a year before returning to the east coast and graduating from Bridgeport University in 1966 with a B.S. in physical education.  That fall he began teaching in the Amityville School District where he taught for 32 years before retiring in 1998.  As a youngster Lenny had the opportunity to play for legendary Bethpage football coach Howie Vogts before his family moved into the Plainview school district.  That was an experience that changed his life forever.  He remembers wanting to be a teacher and coach, “just like coach Vogts”.  To that end he certainly succeeded and would have made his former high school coach very proud.  While teaching PE at Northwest Elementary School and Miles Junior High School he literally affected the lives of thousands of young boys and girls.  “He showed care and concern for all of his students and was always thinking of new ways to make PE class fun, while teaching us the importance of life skills”, said Tim Lomot, a former student who coached varsity boys’ basketball at Locust Valley High School.   His greatest impact however, was on the numerous athletes he coached over the years in football, girls’ volleyball, bowling and swimming.  His greatest success came in football, he was varsity assistant football coach at Bay Shore High School from 1981-87, winning four consecutive Suffolk County titles and two Rutgers’ Trophies.  He became the head football coach at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School in 1991 and worked there for two years before becoming head football coach at Amityville High School from 1994-2000 achieving a .625 winning percentage.  At Amityville he won Suffolk County Championships in ’99 and 2000, defeating Garden City for the Long Island Championship in 1999 before losing to Coach Vogts and his Bethpage Golden Eagles in the 2000 LIC.  As a line coach at Bay Shore, he is remembered by Dr. Bernie Sengstock as, “a coach who believed in me more than I believed in myself and challenged us to exceed our expectations.  He used his knowledge, passion, love for the game and his players to help turn ordinary men into an extraordinary team “.  Former Plainview Old-Bethpage football and lacrosse coach Chris Rogler remembers Lenny as “an amazing person, the best coach I ever had.  He cared more about you as a person than an athlete.  He was always there for you”.  Another Hawk, Peter Pramataris, currently high school principal at Mt. Sinai, shared “what separates coach Mattera from everyone else, and I do mean everyone else, was the sense of family that he instilled in all the people he came across.  For me he was one of the reasons I went on to be a public-school teacher, coach, administrator and father of four boys who play and love the sport of football “.  He continued, “it is often said that a father is the only man that wants their sons better than themselves, well that is all that coach Mattera wanted for all of his ‘sons’ that he coached throughout his career”.   Billy Kretz, QB of Amityville’s ’99 LIC team and also head coach at Amityville from 2013-2021 remembers coach as “an inspirational man who could get you to reach beyond your limits.  He made the game of football fun while stressing family, pride and spirit.  He truly loved us all “.  Another Amityville standout, Jesse O’Neill, an All-Long Island and All-State lineman who played on the University of Delaware National Championship team in 2003 had Lenny as both a teacher and coach.  “I was very fortunate to have an amazing father, but to many in Amityville, coach was their father figure”, O’Neill said.  “He had to be many things to many people and was able to accomplish that in a loving, caring way.  He coached and taught such a diverse group of students and was always respected and appreciated.  He was a gentleman and a gentle man”.

Besides teaching and coaching, he loved golfing, the trotters at old Roosevelt Raceway and ‘his’ NY Rangers and LA/’Brooklyn’ Dodgers.  Tom Howard, his co-coach at Bay Shore put it best by saying, “we just lost an incredible human being, kind, caring and generous to a fault”.

Lenny is survived by his daughter Laurie Miller (Lenny), brother James (Peg), sister Kathleen Kunicki (Walter), sister in law’s Kathleen and Dorothy Mattera and partner for the past 33 years, Anita Markey.  He was predeceased by his mother Carmela, father Joseph and brothers Francis and Michael.  He also leaves behind a ‘slew’ of nieces, nephews, cousins and the families of Jon Shebar and Mike Keeley. Visitation will take place at Powell Funeral Home in Amityville on Wednesday, March 20 2024 from 2:00-4:30PM and 7:00-9:30PM and a mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in Amityville on Thursday, March 21 2024 at 9:30AM. In lieu of flowers the family has suggested Memorial donations to the following organizations: St. Jude Childrens Hospital, Tunnel to Towers and North Shore Animal League. Envelopes will be provided at the funeral home or donations can be made via the links below: 

St. Jude Childrens Hospital

Tunnel to Towers

North Shore Animal League