Man donates $100K in honor of athlete

Bob Dove had a distinguished playing and coaching career.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- A makeover at Canfield High School's stadium got a boost with a $100,000 donation.
Cardinal Nest Builders, a volunteer organization that is raising money for stadium renovations, received the donation Monday from Tony Lariccia, a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch in Canfield, at the Stockyard Market restaurant.
Lariccia attached one condition to the donation -- that the school district name the stadium's field after Bob Dove, a prominent Canfield resident who had a distinguished playing and coaching career in football.
Dove, who died April 19 at 85, was a football standout at Youngstown South High School where he graduated in 1938.
He was a two-time All-American defensive end from Notre Dame in the 1940s.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001, the Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame in 1969, and the Youngstown State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989. He was awarded the Washington Touchdown Club's Rockne Trophy for the nation's best lineman in 1942.
He was a captain in the Marines and played for the El Toro Marines team while stationed on the West Coast.
Pro football endeavors
In his professional career, he joined the Chicago Rockets in the American Football Conference, and went to the Chicago Cardinals in 1948. He was traded to the Detroit Lions in 1953. He retired from pro ball in 1955.
From 1955 to 1961, he was an assistant coach for the University of Detroit, the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills. He became head coach at Hiram College in 1962, when he moved to Canfield.
He joined YSU's coaching staff in 1969 as an offensive line coach, and in 1986 coached tackles and tight ends. From 1987 to 1991, he was coach emeritus.
His children and grandchildren attended Canfield schools, said Superintendent Dante Zambrini, and his daughter, Nancy Jane Dove, teaches high school English and broadcasting.
"He was a tremendous man, and one of the finest athletes to come from the Mahoning Valley," Zambrini said. He said the field will be dedicated in August or September.
Ongoing improvements
The nonprofit Nest Builders is seeking $2 million for its Renovate the Roost project. Field renovations, including a new band shell, are phase one; stadium seating is phase two; and a weight room-wrestling room and locker rooms are phase three. The field renovations include new artificial turf, which will allow the stadium to be used for more events more often, Mike Fagert, the group's vice president of operations, has said.
The field renovations started shortly after schools closed for the summer. A projected completion date, except for the band shell, is Aug. 20. The band shell is expected to be installed by October.
The group told the school board earlier this month that it had raised "just under $1 million."
Lariccia, who lives in Boardman, said that when he heard how much more the group needs to raise, he called Zambrini.
"My wife and I believe in helping the greater good," Lariccia said. "We like to do things for the community. We hoped that since we stepped forward, others will too."