Bio

Pasquale “Pat” D’Auria

Harrison-Stone-Jackson Agricultural High School & Junior College (1936-1938) / Football, Baseball, Boxing
Nyack, New York

In the fall of 1936 with $110 in his pocket, a young man boarded a bus in Nyack, N.Y., bound for the University of Alabama. His goal was to play college football, but then Pasquale “Pat” D’Auria didn’t meet Alabama’s height and weight requirements. He continued his bus ride south and enrolled at what was then Harrison-Stone-Jackson Junior College. And instantly, Alabama’s loss became our gain, as D’Auria took Perkinston by storm.

He had already established an impressive athletic record at Nyack High School, excelling in boxing it as a two-time All-County shortstop and an All-County running back in football. He continued this tradition while at Perkinston, lettering in boxing, football and baseball.

The Daily Herald call D’Auria “a brilliant drop-kicker,” as he converted 19 extra points for the Bulldogs in two years. His efforts helped Gulf Coast secure the 1936 state championship with a 7-0-1 record.

D’Auria’s leadership ability could also be seen on the baseball diamond. As the starting third baseman in 1937, he helped the Bulldogs win the South Division title, and his teammates elected him team captain in 1938. Equally diverse in the academic arena, D’Auria was active in five organizations at the college, serving as an officer in three. It’s easy to see why his peers voted him Best College Freshman at 1937 and Best Sport in 1938.

He accepted a boxing scholarship to Southwestern Louisiana State College and took on contenders from across the south including a draw with the SEC boxing champ at 1940. He also lettered to baseball at Southwestern, hitting. 457 one year and was drafted by the Yankees. D’Auria played one year of minor-league baseball in Port Arthur, Texas, and that is when he knew he belonged in the classroom.

“I had my teaching contract in my back pocket, and when the batting averages came out in the paper and I saw I was hitting. 210, I figured it was time to get on with teaching,” he once said.

World War II delayed his plans for five years, as D’Auria served his country in the Army Air Corps and attained the rank of staff sergeant. While in the service, he also played and coached on a fast-pitch softball team that won the USO championship.

Returning to Nyack in 1946, D’Auria dedicated his life to education for more than three decades, serving as a teacher, guidance counselor and assistant football coach. He was dedicated to his beloved wife of 53 years, Katherine, and their five children. D’Auria was active in all phases of his community, coaching Little League and participating in local politics and church organizations. He also attended Fordham University and Seton Hall University to earn his advanced degrees.

D’Auria died in December 2004. His son, Patrick B. D’Auria, shared one of his favorite anecdotes about his father’s Bulldogs days. It seems his father was granted special permission by superintendent Cooper J. Derby to graduate, despite still owing $5 to the college. Patrick recalls, “The superintendent let him graduate without paying it, with the promise that my father would send the money at a later date. He did. This is the code that my father lived by his whole life.”