In Memoriam: MDC's Demie John Mainieri

Former longtime Miami Dade College head baseball coach Demie John Mainieri, who led the Sharks to the 1964 NJCAA National Championship, died on March 13 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
He was 90.
A devout Catholic, Mainieri was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on October 21, 1928 to John and Julia Mainieri. He was the youngest of a large Italian family including 11 children (eight sisters and two brothers) and was the last surviving member of his family.
Mainieri received a Bachelor's Degree from West Virginia University in 1952. It was here he met his loving and dedicated wife of 65 years, Rosetta McBee Mainieri. He was a big city boy and she was a dairy farmer's daughter. They married December 26, 1953. They spent many years traveling both abroad and home visiting over 35 countries and all 50 states. Together they raised their beautiful family all the while spending many days at the baseball field.
Mainieri went on to complete his Master's and Doctorate degrees at Columbia University in New York. While at Columbia, he was the assistant coach of the football team. He served three and a half years in the U.S. Army and was stationed in LaRochelle, France.
Mainieri became the Athletic Director and head baseball coach at Miami Dade North Community College from 1961-1990. Some of his baseball career highlights include: First junior college baseball coach to win 1,000 games, 30 of his former players played in the major leagues, more than 100 players were drafted or signed by professional teams, he won the 1964 NJCAA National Championship, finished second three times and third once in the NJCAA World Series and he was head coach for the USA Junior National team that won the 1980 World Championship in Venezuela.
In 1978, Mainieri was on the staff that placed second at the World Games in Italy (forerunner of baseball in the Olympic Games). He has been inducted into six baseball Hall of Fames in addition to being selected to the NJCAA All-Century team.
He is survived by his wife, Rosetta and five children, Rosemarie (Lloyd) Batchelor, Paul (Karen) Mainieri, James Mainieri, John (Zeneida) Mainieri and Catherine (James) Gagnon, eight grandchildren (Nicholas, Alexandra, Danielle, Samantha, Thomas, Isaac, Isaiah and Isabel) and four great grandchildren (Holden, Jonathan, Wren and Rowan). One child predeceased him (Julia Marie).