Longtime umpire Paul Friga remembered as iconic figure in sports circles

Alfred "Paul" Friga, of Chaffee, will be remembered fondly by his friends and family, but he may be remembered most for the impact he made through sports.

Friga, 67, was well-known in the Southeast Missouri region for officiating high school and youth sports. He died Thursday in a two-vehicle accident four-miles west of Delta.

"He is going to be missed," SEMO Umpires Association president Chris Stanfield said. "Not only from the officiating standpoint, but more so as a friend."

Stanfield recalled Friga asking him to become president of the organization just one year into his officiating career.

"I'd been officiating for a year at the high school level. I had umpired in the summers forever while I was coaching," Stanfield said. "All of a sudden he asked me if I'd be interested in being the president of the umpires association. I said, 'well, if the guys like me, go for it.' He and I have pretty much run that thing for the last 13-14 years."

Without Friga, Stanfield said he and the vice president of the SEMO Umpires Association will need to figure out how to operate moving forward.

"Right now with the association, I'm kind of at a loss because there's a lot of things that he handled that I didn't have to worry about," Stanfield said. "Now, it's the vice president and myself, and we're going to have to figure out a lot of stuff that, basically, we took for granted that he took care of."

Jeff Graviett, athletic director and head baseball coach at Notre Dame Regional High School, learned of Friga's death from an administrative assistant.

"Boy, it was tough," Graviett said. "I got a phone call from one of our administrative assistants here who's from Oran and let me know about it. That was a very sad, emotional day for me. I mean, when I grew up Paul Friga umpired for me. My first couple years out of high school I actually umpired for his association."

Graviett had a close connection with Friga, looking up to him when transitioning from high school to officiating and coaching his granddaughters in softball.

"He kind of was my mentor, I guess, my first couple of years adjusting from high school to being an official," Graviett said. "Then, as I got into coaching, working with him as an official up here. I coached both his granddaughters here in softball, they went to school here. Just a great family, a very sports-minded family. He was just a great guy all around."

Chaffee Jr./Sr. High School assistant principal and head baseball coach Brian Horrell remembers Friga.

"Paul was kind of an iconic figure," Horrell said. "He touched several people's lives through sports."

Horrell recalls Friga being selfless and accountable.

"When I first started coaching -- back before they had all the technology with computers -- if you had a rainout and moved a game, a lot of times it was hard to find officials," Horrell said. "But it wasn't for me because I just called Paul Friga, and he would do what he had to do to give me some guys.

"Anytime you were in a bind, he was the guy you called and he took care of you."

Charleston High School athletic director and head baseball coach Michael Minner remembers Friga umpiring several of his baseball games growing up and during his coaching career. He expressed his sympathy to Friga's family.

"We send out our prayers and deepest condolences to his family and friends on the loss of Paul," Minner said. "We'll continue to keep their family in our prayers, and we hope that God blesses him with a trip to heaven. We know that he was a good Christian man and he definitely deserves what he's enjoying right now."

In addition to assisting with the SEMO Umpires Association, Friga was a member of the Chaffee Elks Lodge, Knights of Columbus and War Child Riding Group.

He is survived by his father Alfred Friga, wife Pattie Friga and his children Brian Friga and Lisa Townsend.

A visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. The Chaffee Elks Lodge will officiate a service at 6:30 p.m. Monday.