Vera Clemente, Roberto Clemente’s widow and keeper of the flame.
When he died, Roberto Clemente had been planning to create a sports center for children in Puerto Rico, and Ms. Clemente had planned to teach there.
In short order, she established the Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Sports City), which he had envisioned as a place where young people could play sports, but where they could also learn other skills, like reading, and attend programs, like drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinics. Since then, hundreds of thousands of youths have taken part in its activities.
“When he died, I felt the responsibility to at least make a reality of a sports city, to give children the opportunity not just to become stars but good citizens,” Ms. Clemente told The New York Times in 1994. “My main purpose was to do what he was planning to do.”
She said she was compelled to carry out her husband’s wishes not only because of the way he died but also because of the way he had lived.
“If he had died in a common way, people would still remember him,” she said. “But Dec. 31, it was a special day, and his was a special mission. I admire him for that, as a person, as a human being. So his image I keep alive. I feel happy doing what I am doing.”
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After Hurricane Harvey, she flew to Houston during the 2017 World Series to present the award to Anthony Rizzo, the Chicago Cubs’ first baseman, who was a cancer survivor and who had established a foundation to help children with the disease.
While in Houston, she took time out to volunteer at a food bank to help families recovering from the hurricane.
Sad to see this wonderful lady pass. Her husband was not only a fantastic ballplayer, but a wonderful humanitarian. He is not alone in the baseball players who have passed away early, to be remembered by many. I remember Thurman Munson, and his untimely airplane crash, which took his life, in 1979. For some reason he is not in the Hall of Fame, although his stats seem to qualify him.
I was eight when Roberto Clemente died, so I don’t remember it very well.
The more I read about him and his death, though, the sadder I get. He was a man who put his time and treasure where his mouth was, and died in the process. I don’t want to say that’s rare (the time and treasure part: fortunately, not a lot of these guys have died), because I can certainly think of other sports figures who have done the same in recent years. But it’s worthy of admiration, no matter how common.
I remember Thurman Munson’s death a little more vividly. As you know, I’m not much of a baseball fan, but I’m shocked that he’s not in the Hall of Fame.