Former Elmont coach dies at 69

Sofsian was born in 1942 and grew up in Tudor Village, Queens, where he attended John Adams High School and received All-City honors in football, basketball and baseball. After graduating in 1960, he attended Syracuse University on a full scholarship for football.

Courtesy Traci Maier

Sofsian, a longtime Rockville Centre resident, who taught and coached at Elmont Memorial High School for nearly 32 years.

Courtesy Traci Maier

Walter Sofsian, right, coached football and lacrosse at Elmont Memorial High School for nearly 32 years. He died on March 3, at the age of 69. (Ken Hetterick, former assistant lacrosse coach at Elmont Memorial, is standing to Sofsian's left.)

Courtesy Traci Maier

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Although he looked like the stereotypical athlete, Walter Sofsian wasn’t a typical competitive father. In fact, when he watched his three children play sports, he preferred to sit at the end of the field or court, on the opposing team’s side — as far away from other players’ parents as he could be — so that he could steer clear of parental strategizing and analyses, and focus completely on his kids.

“He was very encouraging in that way,” remembers Traci Maier, his oldest daughter. “He didn’t live vicariously through us, like some parents tend to do. He brought a lawn chair and newspaper to every game.”

Sofsian, a longtime Rockville Centre resident, who taught and coached at Elmont Memorial High School for nearly 32 years, died suddenly on March 3. He had been playing tennis in Palm Coast, Fla., where he regularly vacationed, when he suffered a heart attack. He was 69 years old.

Sofsian was born in 1942 and grew up in Tudor Village, Queens, where he attended John Adams High School and received All-City honors in football, basketball and baseball. After graduating in 1960, he attended Syracuse University on a full scholarship for football. He played quarterback, and studied accounting.

Not long after obtaining a banking job, Sofsian realized that his passion wasn’t just numbers, but competitive sports as well. In the mid-60s, he was hired as a math teacher at Elmont Memorial, and moved to Garden City. Shortly thereafter, he became Elmont’s assistant coach in football and lacrosse.

Along with Jack Salerno, 70, longtime football and lacrosse coach at Elmont, Sofsian led the school to a football record of 104-35-5, including two county titles; and a lacrosse record of 303-55, including a state championship.

In 1978, Sofsian and his family — Dorothy, his wife of 42 years; and children, Scott Sofsian, Traci Maier and Jessica Faranda — moved to Rockville Centre. In 1981, Sofsian became Elmont’s head coach, boasting a football record of 78-52-3; and lacrosse record of 168-58, including an undefeated state title; when he retired in 1997.