Larry Ambrosino and wife Dorothy
By Claire M. Regan | For the Staten Island Advance
Lawrence (Larry) Ambrosino, an educator, athlete, coach and community leader who spent a lifetime championing the legacy of a police officer killed in the line of duty, succumbed to a two-year battle with cancer today at home in Annadale. He was 72.
The lifelong Staten Islander raised awareness about Police Officer Rocco Laurie, a childhood friend who was ambushed and killed with his partner in Manhattan in 1972. Ambrosino worked to get Intermediate School 72 in New Springville named for the fallen officer, and established a scholarship program in his name that continues today.
Ambrosino’s passion was coaching and mentoring children, especially those in under-served communities. He stayed in touch with many of them through adulthood.
A graduate of New Dorp High School and Wagner College, he began his career as a teacher before he was appointed principal of PS 57 in Clifton at the age of 32, becoming the youngest principal in New York City. He later served as superintendent of schools in Shrewsbury, N.J., a post which he held for 10 years.
Ambrosino was a founder and chairman of the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame and served as president of the Staten Island Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
A complete obituary will follow in the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com.
