Politics & Government
Councilman, Fields Advocate, Coach Remembered
Don Links died Saturday after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.
Friends and Madison officials remembered Don Links on Monday as a youth sports coach who loved working with children and a borough councilman whose colleagues always knew where he was coming from.
Links, who died Saturday after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, advocated for the installation of artificial turf fields at the Madison Recreation Center and made seeing that project through a priority while he served on Madison's governing body.
There are plans to install a plaque in his honor on a rock near the flag poles at the rec complex, which opened in spring of 2012. Friends hoped to show Links the recognition, but did not have the chance. He was 66.Â
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"He had a great sense of humor," Council President Carmela Vitale said. "I had a lot of respect for the man."
She said her husband developed a nice friendship with Links, and they were praying for his family.
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"We always knew how he felt about something," she said.
While the synthetic turf fields at the Madison Recreation Center were being designed and built, Links met weekly with the borough engineer. When the project received a construction award, the engineer, Bob Vogel, dedicated it to Links.
"Don's involvement with the borough was punctuated by his enthusiasm for sports facilities improvements and it is truly unfortunate that a progressive disabling illness like Lou Gehrig's disease took one of our strongest advocates for outdoor active recreation," Vogel said Monday.
Catalanello said Links worked well in a group, sought the opinions of everyone and would defer to others if he felt they had more knowledge or better ideas.
"Everything that that guy did was because he thought it was the right thing to do and he thought it would make Madison a better place to live and to raise a family," he said.
"I'm going to miss him and the town's going to miss him," Catalanello said. "He was a driving force for doing the right thing."
Catalanello's wife, Brenda, said Links was committed to recreation and passionate. As a coach, he was positive and got everybody involved, she said.
Mayor Bob Conley said it was sad news for Madison and his prayers are with Links' family. While he and Links disagreed on many things, they respected each other, he said. He said Links came to the council with the objective of delivering turf fields. Now, "We have a beautiful facility," he said.
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