Durfee Athletics Hall of Famer Manny Papoula has died at age 80

FALL RIVER – The Spindle City has lost one of its great servants.

Manny Papoula, who sacrificed much of his time and much of his money to help others, died this week. The former Durfee High School and Boston College basketball player was 80 years old.

Paul Silva of Silva-Faria Funeral Homes said late Saturday morning that the exact day of Papoula’s death was not known and that no arrangements had been made.

As a mathematics teacher, Papoula taught professionally for 30 years, the last 26 years in Fairlawn, New Jersey. He was once named State Teacher of the Year in New Jersey. His state pension, which he described as very good, enabled him to retire early and return to his hometown.

Manny Papoula never really stopped teaching.

During his “retirement” years, he volunteered as a math teacher with Southeastern Massachusetts SER-Jobs for Progress, helping the program’s participants earn their GED high school equivalency diplomas.

In 2017, Papoula received the Friend of Education Award from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The MCSC presents two such awards annually.

The plaque dedicating the Ruggles Park basketball courts in 2017 reads, among other things, the following about Papoula: “The naming of this court in his honor is a recognition of the countless hours of volunteer time and generosity he dedicated to a grateful autumn.” “River community through the years.”

Papoula, Durfee Class of 1962, was one of the few Durfee High basketball players to play for both Luke Urban and Skip Karam. Papoula often said it made him smile when someone mentioned that playing for the mercurial coach Karam could be difficult. “These people,” Papoula would say, “never played for Lukey.”

Papoula didn’t just play for Durfee; He stood out as a long-armed, wiry and strong 1.90 meter tall center. Wearing uniform No. 30, he scored 784 career points in an era where Durfee played a very deliberate offense, averaging 17 points per game as a senior and once scoring 42 points in a game against Taunton.

“He was excellent,” said Karam, who played for Urban. “He was easy to coach. He played hard every day. He was one of the nicest guys I had.”

Papoula, a Durfee Athletics Hall of Famer, was a small but effective frontcourt starter at Boston College, where his head coach was legendary Boston Celtics guard and NBA Hall of Famer Bob Cousy.

Upon his return to Fall River, Papoula founded and funded the Skip Karam Scholarships, which are awarded annually to Durfee’s highest-ranking senior boys and girls basketball players. He said Karam always emphasized to his players the importance of education.

Papoula created and funded the Tony LaCava Scholarship for players in the Columbus Park Independent Baseball League. He also awarded scholarships to people he helped earn their GED high school equivalency diplomas through SER-Jobs for Progress.

In another of his passions, Papoula searched the city’s 30 public basketball courts several times a year to replace/repair the nets on the hoops.

As a youth, Papoula spent many hours playing basketball at Ruggles Park, not far from his home at 151 Orange Street. In October 2017, the courses at Ruggles were renovated and named in his honor. The inauguration of the Manny Papoula basketball court was well attended. Bob Cousy talked about the dedication after the event and said he wished he had known about it so he could have attended.

After returning to Fall River, Papoula attended many Durfee High basketball games with the critical eye of a former generally healthy basketball player and teacher. At one point, this reporter mentioned in a column that the local boys players seemed to have difficulty making open 10-foot shots along the baseline. Soon after, I received one of Manny’s trademark handwritten notes in the mail that covered several topics, including the bad shooting. “The players don’t make these shots,” he wrote, “because they don’t practice them.”

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