When something happened in Belmont, even to someone he may not have known well, Skip Viglirolo took it to heart.
No matter the situation, Viglirolo was “the first one at someone’s house” with his comforting presence and Italian pastries in hand, according to Jan Viglirolo, the oldest of his four children.
“He just instilled in us to always do the right thing,” Jan said. “It isn’t always the easiest thing, but you should do the right thing.”
James P. Viglirolo, known to most as “Skip,” died peacefully at age 95 earlier this week. A lifelong Belmont resident, Viglirolo proudly represented the town as a three-sport varsity athlete at Belmont High School and as a college ice hockey player, serving in the Korean War, during a 50-plus year run working for the Belmont Parks and Recreation Department and countless other ways.
A member of the Belmont High School Athletic and Massachusetts High School Hockey Coaches Hall of Fames, Viglirolo’s impact as a coach alone speaks volumes about the man for which the town’s old skating rink was named. He spent a combined 25 years as the head coach and assistant for Belmont High School’s boys’ varsity ice hockey team, volunteered with Belmont Youth Hockey, helped found and lead the Belmont Recreation Women’s Hockey Program and Belmont SPORT (formerly Camp Willow), an inclusive recreation program for children of all abilities.
Believe it or not, Jan Viglirolo said, golf was “his sport” from his late 40s—after retiring from adult softball—through his late 80s, until stenosis hit his back. He missed the links immediately, she said.
“All I’d hear every Saturday and Sunday was ‘it’s a beautiful golf day, but here I am sitting with you,’” Jan said.
Viglirolo is survived by his wife, Claire (Morrow) Viglirolo, four siblings, four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Jan Viglirolo said her father was strict growing up — no dirty shoes in the car! — but “softened” when new generations of the family entered the fold. Eventually, he let a grandson bring a fish he caught in Clay Pit Pond for a ride home in his Lincoln.
Later in life, after Viglirolo stopped driving, he adored weekend drives around town with his family. He’d share stories about what used to be where and his experiences all over town. Bearer of an “everything happens for a reason” mentality, Viglirolo, who was born in a once-standing Pleasant Street rental now home to a new Dunkin’ location, often repeated the phrase “it is what it is” to describe the sea changes in town.
Throughout a long life filled with achievements, Viglirolo never wavered from his upstanding commitment to accountability.
“He always felt if you did it, you did it right,” Jan Viglirolo said. “He was a stickler for the rules. I’m sure any kid he coached would tell you that.”