Glen Cove lost a longtime resident and friend with the passing of Anthony M. Cangero who succumbed to cancer on September 7, 2004 after a long and courageous battle.

Mr. Cangero was born in Sturno, Italy, Glen Cove's sister city, and came to the United States in 1961 and to Glen Cove in 1962. He served in the U.S. Army Mechanized Infantry Division in the Panama Canal Zone from 1967-69. He later recalled his stay as "miserable," adding, "It was the first time I was away from my family."

Mr. Cangero was well known around the City of Glen Cove as a man of many hats. He was the proprietor of A.C. Stationery and Office Supplies and he worked as a city employee, being appointed in December 2000 as a code enforcer and promoted in September 2002 to multiple residence inspector. He remained employed by the City of Glen Cove throughout his life. But more than anything, Tony Cangero was defined by his passion for the world's favorite sport, soccer.

He started playing at 16 years old in 1962 with Forest Park, a team sponsored by the Sons of Italy. "There was no Long Island Junior Soccer League at the time, so I played with the men," he said.

And play he did. He left the team behind when he joined the service, but returned to the club as assistant coach as well as player after his army stint. He then was picked to coach the club's second division team. His administrative talents were recognized and he was soon asked by the Long Island Senior Soccer League to take on the job of scheduling secretary, for which he drew up schedules and assigned teams to fields all around the Island. Fellow Glen Cover Marco Malusa, a name the Glen Cove Jr. Soccer players of today will recognize, recruited Tony for the position, which then led to the position of registrar and later, first vice-president of the league.

In 1977, Tony became general manager of the Glen Cove Soccer Club, assisting Mike Anastasio and Mike Morra. As the Glen Cove Soccer Club began to compete with other talented teams on Long Island, the team garnered the Long Island Cup championship numerous times during the 1980s; the first division team won the regular season championship twice and the second, or reserve division, won five times.

Tony was thrilled in 1987 when both division teams reached the Long Island Cup finals. Both teams won their games, 1-0, despite being underdogs.

Tony was named a life member of the Long Island Soccer Football League in 1982 as well as serving as president and was inducted into the Glen Cove Hall of Fame in 1991 and the New York State Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000. Accolades and tributes continued to follow him. Early in 2002, at a general meeting of the Long Island Soccer Football League, the league general body voted to name the super cup "The Cangero Super Cup." A fitting tribute to a super man.

Speaking to friends and associates of Mr. Cangero elicited sweet words and sad smiles.

Glen Cove Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp said, "Tony was a valued and dedicated employee. As Tony faced illness, he showed all of us in city hall the meaning of courage and determination. Tony will be missed by so many of us in Glen Cove and by all of Long Island's soccer enthusiasts."

Vincent (Jimmy) Suozzi called Mr. Cangero a true gentleman. "I've known the Cangero family for many years and got to know Tony very well from the days of AC Stationery. He was always a man of his word, gave everyone a fair shake in his store. He earned the great respect he had. Glen Cove has lost a wonderful friend."

Darcy Belyea, director of parks and recreation for the City of Glen Cove, echoed Mr. Suozzi saying Mr. Cangero was "a true gentleman who went out of his way to educate people in the game of soccer and work for the betterment of the sport in our community and beyond. He had a very unassuming way and not many people realized what a powerful force he was for the game in the tri-state area. He did much, much more than he ever took credit for...he didn't need honors and accolades, but I know I was thrilled when the Long Island Soccer League named the cup after him."

Zefy Christopoulos, had a great time talking and watching international soccer with Mr. Cangero, he a fan of the Italian team and she of the Greek team. She and Tony enjoyed 12 years of talking about and watching international soccer. "He was surprised when I spoke about games played in Eintracht Oval in Astoria," she laughed. "He played there when he was younger and loved finding someone who knew the place. We would both come to work bleary eyed from watching World Cup Soccer on television at 3 a.m. Tony was in the hospital for the Euro 2004 tournament," said Ms. Christopoulos, "and when Greece, the underdogs, won, I called him to say, 'We did it!' His answer to me was, 'Well, you'd better cheer now, it's not going to happen again.' " Ms. Christopoulos sighed, " I will miss my fellow soccer fanatic, my friend."

Pasquale DeLuca worked with Mr. Cangero through the soccer days. "Years ago, the people in charge wanted to take the Long Island Soccer League out of the USSF. Our league was one of the biggest in NY State with more than 100 teams. I encouraged Tony to run for president and called all the clubs in the league to tell them what was going on. When Tony won, we stayed in the USSF and continued to win." An emotional Mr. DeLuca summed up the thoughts of many, "I feel that soccer has lost its best friend...and so did I."