Remembering a local soccer icon

The Ruppenthal family at a rededication ceremony for East Meadow Field of Dreams last Saturday, honoring Stanley Ruppenthal, who died two years ago.

Rebecca Rogak/Herald

Patricia and Stan were married 36 years.

Courtesy Dignity Memorial

Renovations on the field, including the addition of synthetic turf, finished on Sept. 1. The club unveiled the field for the first time publicly last Saturday.

Rebecca Rogak/Herald

Christopher Ruppenthal, 34, said the East Meadow Soccer Club has been a “second family” to him and his mother, Patricia, seated behind him.

Rebecca Rogak/Herald

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Stanley Ruppenthal never got to see the remodeled soccer fields in East Meadow’s Field of Dreams, a project he pursued tirelessly for the better part of two decades. The former East Meadow Soccer Club president and Nassau County police officer died suddenly of a heart attack two years ago, at age 59.

But it was through Ruppenthal’s hard work and perseverance, club officials said, that the fields were created in the first place, in a Nassau County storm recharge basin in 2000. Plagued for years by drainage problems, they were renovated earlier this year by a partnership between the soccer club and the county’s Department of Public Works. Drainage was improved and synthetic turf was added.

Last Saturday, the new-and-improved Field of Dreams was not only publicly unveiled, but rededicated to honor the man who inspired its creation. It is now the Stan Ruppenthal Soccer Complex.

“Stan never got to see the finished product,” said Eric Schwartz, who replaced Ruppenthal as president of the EMSC 10 years ago. “But we know that he’s seeing it now. He’s looking down on it.”

From storm basin to soccer fields

The transformation of the storm basin, on Salisbury Park Drive near its intersection with Old Westbury Road, into a soccer complex was a collaborative effort involving soccer club officials and local elected leaders, but all agreed it would not have become a reality without Ruppenthal.

“Stan was a fixture in our community,” County Executive Ed Mangano said at Saturday’s ceremony, before more than 100 people, including children in the soccer club who paused their games to watch. “I’m honored to dedicate this field in his name today.”

Schwartz, who said he grew up around the corner from the storm basin, recalled that the dirt and mud made it a popular sledding spot for local children. Which was why, he recalled, he was dubious when he first learned of Ruppenthal’s idea.