Demie Mainieri

Demie John Mainieri, 90, of Baton Rouge, LA died peacefully on March 13, 2019 into the arms of his loving God, with whom he had a lifelong personal relationship. A devout Catholic, Demie was born in Jersey City, NJ on October 21,1928 to John and Julia Mainieri. He was the youngest of a large Italian family including 11 children (8 sisters and 2 brothers) and was the last surviving member of his family.

Demie received a Bachelor's Degree from West Virginia University in 1952. It was here he met his loving and dedicated wife of 65 years, Rosetta McBee Mainieri. He was a big city boy and she was a dairy farmer's daughter. They married December 26,1953. They spent many years traveling both abroad and home visiting over 35 countries and all 50 states. Together they raised their beautiful family all the while spending many days at the baseball field. Demie went on to complete his Master's and Doctorate degrees at Columbia University in New York. While at Columbia, Demie was the assistant coach of the football team. He served 3 and a half years in the U.S. Army and was stationed in LaRochelle, France. It was here their first daughter Julia Marie was born and passed.

Demie became the Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach at Miami- Dade North Community College from 1961-1990. Some of his baseball career highlights include: first junior college baseball coach to win 1,000 games; 30 of his former players played in the major leagues; more than 100 players were drafted or signed by professional teams; he won the 1964 NJCAA National Championship, finished second three times and third once in the NJCAA World Series; he was head coach for the USA Junior National team that won the 1980 World Championship in Venezuela. In 1978, Demie was on the staff that placed second at the World Games in Italy (forerunner of baseball in the Olympic Games).He has been inducted into six baseball Hall of Fames in addition to being selected to the NJCAA All-Century team. Demie also coached the Italian National Baseball Team for five summers.

Demie is survived by his loving wife, Rosetta and five children, Rosemarie (Lloyd) Batchelor, Paul (Karen) Mainieri, James Mainieri, John (Zeneida) Mainieri and Catherine (James) Gagnon, eight grandchildren (Nicholas, Alexandra, Danielle, Samantha, Thomas, Isaac, Isaiah and Isabel) and four great grandchildren (Holden, Jonathan,Wren and Rowan). One child predeceased him (Julia Marie).

Demie, who was also known as "Doc" to his hundreds of friends and players is remembered as a man of faith, an amazing husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, coach, mentor, teacher and friend whose legacy will live on in all the lives he touched throughout his years. His love of food, babies, dogs, ice cream, and oreo cookies are highlighted throughout stories the family shares to remember him. He will be missed beyond words.

A visitation will be held on Sunday, March 17th from 7-9 PM at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home located at 11817 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70816. A second visitation will be held on Monday, March 18th from 10-12 PM at St. Aloysius Catholic Church located at 2025 Stuart Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70808, and will be followed by the funeral mass at 12 PM. Burial to follow will take place at 2:30 PM at the Louisiana National Cemetery located at 303 W. Mt. Pleasant Zachary, LA 70791.

The Mainieri family would like to extend a special thank you to the community and caretakers of St. James who showed their dedication and love for our sweet Demie, especially those who snuck him some ice cream whenever he requested even during breakfast.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Tiger Athletic Foundation to support LSU Baseball, Shriners Childrens Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Childrens Hospital Foundation, or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in memory of his daughter, Julia Marie Mainieri.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16