Final Salute

Former Wilby High baseball coach Mario Ciarlo made a lasting impression on his future physical education teaching colleague and assistant coach Dave Guerrera the very first time he met him.

Walking out to meet them was first-year head coach Ciarlo with his captain, Lenny Samela, and immediately Guerrera felt awestruck by the impeccably classy, dignified and respectful approach Ciarlo took to the game.

“This guy comes out of the Wilby dugout dressed to a T and looking great,” Guerrera said. “In those days, people didn’t really get into how they looked in their role as the coach, but Mario had a full uniform on, and his kids reflected how he treated the game.

“The rest of the teams and players were always a little bit jealous because his kids were always the best-dressed, the best-equipped team around. He always tried to do the best he could for them.”

Ciarlo died Saturday at his home in Virginia, but not before he lived his best life. He lived to the age of 98 and left behind an impressive legacy which will be celebrated at services Monday, Aug. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Chase Parkway Memorial/Albini Funeral Home.

Ciarlo coached for more than three decades, including nearly 20 years as the Wilby High head coach. He also taught physical education at Wilby for 34 years and worked for the Waterbury Parks and Recreation Department for 31 years.

His dedication to coaching and to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association earned him induction into the CHSCA Hall of Fame in 1995.

In addition to his work in the Waterbury community, Ciarlo also served in the U.S. Navy in both World War II and the Korean Conflict and was a lifelong member of the Fleet Tug Sailors and the Seabees Veterans of America. His private burial at Calvary Cemetery will include full military honors.

During World War II, he served aboard the USS Tawasa in the Pacific as part of the fleet tug service that aided the fleet by towing disabled ships on the high seas in combat and post-combat areas. In Korea, he was a member of the Seabees, building and defending military infrastructure.

“He joined the Navy as soon as he graduated (Leavenworth) high school (at age 17), trained at the Sampson Naval Training Station in New York in 1945, and he served in the Pacific,” said Bob Dorr, secretary of the Waterbury Veterans Memorial Committee.

“The veterans committee honored him in 2024 for his service. I have known him for quite some time, and he was a man who was quite dedicated to his city, his state and his nation.”

Former Wilby High principal Joe Begnal said Ciarlo proudly served the CHSCA for decades, attending national conventions all over the country to help shape rules, advance coaching and develop new fundraising programs for high school athletic programs.

Begnal played for Sacred Heart High School when Ciarlo was coaching at Wilby.

“He was an old-school coach who stressed fundamentals,” Begnal said. “He was very intelligent when it came to the game and how it should be played. His teams were very well-prepared.”

More than that, he was a tremendous mentor, said Pete Morcey, a former Sacred Heart coach who also worked alongside Ciarlo as a Wilby physical education teacher for 10 years.

“He cared about Wilby, and he cared about the kids,” said the 86-year-old Morcey. “He was a very warm-hearted man. The kids loved him. He would go to the wall for a kid if they had problems at home or couldn’t buy lunch or something like that. He was almost like a friend to the kids as well as being a coach and a mentor.

“Anybody that ever played for him always had a good word about him. He was just a good man.”

Ciarlo was clearly a Wilby man.

Guerrera said that during the 16 years he worked with Ciarlo as a PE teacher, he couldn’t remember a day that Ciarlo didn’t wear some combination of the school colors — Kelly green, gray and white — or some clothing with the Wilby Wildcats logo.

“People always used to say that if Tommy Lasorda ever got cut, he would bleed Dodger blue,” Guerrera said, “and we always joked that Mario would definitely bleed Kelly green.”

Although he moved to Virginia after he retired, Ciarlo’s heart was never far from Waterbury. He maintained a Republican-American subscription to keep up with local news, called friends frequently and always returned for the CHSCA Hall of Fame dinner due to his affinity for the organization.

He also drove up three to five times per year so he could visit family and friends.

“Every time he came back up from Virginia, we got together,” Begnal said. “I saw him probably a month ago maybe. He would drive up from Virginia and Pete Morcey and myself would meet him for lunch at Verdi. He would drive up at age 96, 97, 98.”

“He always had a list of people to visit,” added the 75-year-old Guerrera. “He tried to touch base with every single one when he came back. It was amazing that at his age, he would drive up that Northeast Corridor just to see everyone back home.”

Former Wilby High athletic director Steve Baldwin, who at age 56 is far too young to have worked with Ciarlo, still benefited greatly from him.

He said Ciarlo often visited the school just to see how things were going, and he also called whenever one of the teams was doing well.

“Wilby green through and through,” Baldwin said. “He was a Wilby legend.”