Maryland Softball Commissioner Remembered for Service
Charles Joseph Colaianni, Maryland State Commissioner for the Amateur Softball Association of America, died of leukemia at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Chuck Murr, Cleveland-based sportswriter and Associated Press stringer, noted Colaianni’s labors on behalf of Baltimore youth. “He didn’t just help his family but he reached hundreds of thousands of kids throughout Baltimore and surrounding areas. He got them off the streets and gave them a ball and a uniform."
Baltimore, MD, May 15, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Charles Joseph Colaianni, Maryland State Commissioner for the Amateur Softball Association of America, died of leukemia at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland on April 29 at the age of 66. Chuck Murr, Cleveland-based sportswriter and Associated Press stringer, noted Colaianni’s labors on behalf of Baltimore youth at the Mass of Christian Burial. “He didn’t just help his family but he reached hundreds of thousands of kids throughout Baltimore and surrounding areas. He got them off the streets and gave them a ball and a uniform,” noted Murr. “We’ll never know how many lives were changed thanks to Charlie.”
Colaianni was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated from City College High School. After graduation, Colaianni joined the Maryland National Guard and served six years. He spent his entire career working for the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, largely responsible for coordinating athletic teams and activities throughout the city. He retired in 1991 as the Coordinator of Amateur Athletics after a 30-year career.
Colaianni’s love of sports and commitment to amateur athletics was central to his life’s work. For 28 years he served as the Commissioner for Metro Baltimore and Maryland State for the Amateur Softball Association of America, the National Governing Body of Softball. In this capacity, he organized softball tournaments, managed umpires, supervised both adult and youth leagues, and represented Maryland softball to the national governing body. Always an advocate for senior softball and his umpire program, Colaianni was instrumental in the expansion of the state clinic to its new yearly format. In the 1980s he successfully brought the ASA National Convention to Baltimore. Just four months ago, he represented Maryland ASA at the National Senior Softball Summit in Nevada.
Colaianni served on many committees for ASA and acted as the ASA Representative at numerous national tournaments. He also gave Maryland the opportunity to host several ASA National Tournaments and an ASA National Umpire School. He was the driving force behind the start-up of the Maryland ASA Scholarship Fund and was one of the original board members on the Maryland Slow-Pitch Hall of Fame which had its first induction dinner while he was in the hospital.
Julianne Baker, oldest daughter of Mr. Colaianni, observed in her eulogy that “If it had a ball, he probably played it, coached it, organized it, refereed it, or watched it. He was a competitor even in his 60s; a man with a passion for a good game.” Until his illness, Colaianni was active in numerous leagues including softball, basketball, and bowling, and he was even a competitor in the Maryland Senior Olympics.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, the former Sandra Rowe. Also surviving are his three daughters – Julianne Baker of Chesapeake, Virginia, Christine Seager of Brookville and Cyndi Alder of Eldersburg – as well as his older brother Joseph C. Colaianni, Jr. of Lutherville and younger sister Grace "Joanne" Colaianni of Arbutus. Mr. Colaianni is survived by ten grandchildren, five girls and five boys.
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Colaianni was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated from City College High School. After graduation, Colaianni joined the Maryland National Guard and served six years. He spent his entire career working for the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, largely responsible for coordinating athletic teams and activities throughout the city. He retired in 1991 as the Coordinator of Amateur Athletics after a 30-year career.
Colaianni’s love of sports and commitment to amateur athletics was central to his life’s work. For 28 years he served as the Commissioner for Metro Baltimore and Maryland State for the Amateur Softball Association of America, the National Governing Body of Softball. In this capacity, he organized softball tournaments, managed umpires, supervised both adult and youth leagues, and represented Maryland softball to the national governing body. Always an advocate for senior softball and his umpire program, Colaianni was instrumental in the expansion of the state clinic to its new yearly format. In the 1980s he successfully brought the ASA National Convention to Baltimore. Just four months ago, he represented Maryland ASA at the National Senior Softball Summit in Nevada.
Colaianni served on many committees for ASA and acted as the ASA Representative at numerous national tournaments. He also gave Maryland the opportunity to host several ASA National Tournaments and an ASA National Umpire School. He was the driving force behind the start-up of the Maryland ASA Scholarship Fund and was one of the original board members on the Maryland Slow-Pitch Hall of Fame which had its first induction dinner while he was in the hospital.
Julianne Baker, oldest daughter of Mr. Colaianni, observed in her eulogy that “If it had a ball, he probably played it, coached it, organized it, refereed it, or watched it. He was a competitor even in his 60s; a man with a passion for a good game.” Until his illness, Colaianni was active in numerous leagues including softball, basketball, and bowling, and he was even a competitor in the Maryland Senior Olympics.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, the former Sandra Rowe. Also surviving are his three daughters – Julianne Baker of Chesapeake, Virginia, Christine Seager of Brookville and Cyndi Alder of Eldersburg – as well as his older brother Joseph C. Colaianni, Jr. of Lutherville and younger sister Grace "Joanne" Colaianni of Arbutus. Mr. Colaianni is survived by ten grandchildren, five girls and five boys.
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