Amityville to christen softball field for beloved art teacher, coach and adviser Susan Amato

Susan Amato’s concern for her students did not end with the ring of the last bell.

Now the longtime art teacher, who devoted countless hours as a softball coach and school newspaper adviser, will have her legacy as a mentor forever memorialized when the Amityville High School softball field is named after her.

The school district will dedicate the field on Aug. 27 to Amato, who taught at the high school for 33 years until retiring in 2007. She was an adviser to the school newspaper and literary magazine for 10 of those years, adviser for the yearbook for three years and was the school’s varsity girls’ softball coach for eight years.

Amato, who lived in North Babylon, died of endometrial cancer in March 2019. She was 66. In June 2019 the Amityville School Board voted 7-0 to approve the field naming.

"Sue was not only an outstanding art teacher loved by all, but she was a pioneer in the movement to help girls’ athletics excel and become what they are today," said Edward Fale, interim superintendent of the school district.

Amato’s youngest daughter, Lindsay Singer, 37 of upstate Washingtonville, requested the field dedication.

"I can’t believe it’s happening," Singer said. "My mom was very humble and she never liked being made a big deal out of, but she also touched a lot of people’s lives and I felt the world needed to know who she was and what she stood for."

Her mother, who was married with four children, was also her coach on town and traveling softball teams, Singer said, and even ran the concession stands at other games if needed.

"I called her Superwoman because I don’t know how she got the energy," Singer said. "And not once did any of us feel deprived of her love and attention."

Amityville Mayor Dennis Siry and trustee Michael O’Neill both had Amato as a teacher in the 1970s. O’Neill called Amato "one of the most genuine teachers I had," and Siry said she "probably had a lot to do" with him being named most artistic his senior year.

"I loved being in her class," Siry said. "She was one of those teachers who you remember throughout your life."

Courtney Weglinski, 37 and now of Poughkeepsie, said she got to know Amato from 1998 to 2002 through class, the softball team and the student newspaper.

"She was definitely a good teacher but also was a really great friend," Weglinski said. "She was someone you could count on and learn from and talk to if you needed to. She’s the type of teacher I hope everyone has at some point in their lives."

The field dedication is from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and includes softball games, food, face painting and a raffle.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.