A longtime baseball coach killed alongside his elderly mother in a raging fire was a mentor to generations of Brooklyn children — and in the hours before his death was making plans to bring his team to a tournament.
Jose Castro, 65, and his 86-year-old mother, Maria, were killed by a blaze that tore through their second-floor apartment in East Flatbush Saturday morning.
“It’s just crushing,” said Jerry Katzke, the treasurer and athletic director of the Bonnie Youth Club where Castro volunteered as a coach.
“He was a big part of our organization. He’s one of these guys that everybody liked and everyone wanted to work with.”
The cause of the 6:50 a.m. fire in the thee-story building on Nostrand Ave. near Beverly Road remains under investigation.
Castro, who made a career out of mentoring and coaching youth sports, joined the all-volunteer Bonnie Youth Club about 40 years ago, Katzke said. He also coached junior varsity baseball at The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights.
“Whether it’s in a school setting or whether it’s in a sandlot setting like ours, everything he’s really done has revolved around kids and baseball and tutoring,” Katzke told the Daily News.
Obtained by Daily News
Youth baseball coach Jose Castro, 65, died in a fire on Saturday morning. (Obtained by Daily News)
Castro, who didn’t have children of his own, lived with and helped out his bedridden mother, Katzke said.
Katzke had a phone conversation with Castro the night before the fire to discuss an upcoming weekend tournament for Castro’s team that was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather.
“He was very kind and very caring and very determined and dependable. He really enjoyed working with kids of all ages,’” Katzke said. “He never turned a kid away. He’d always be willing to help anyone who needed help and he would just gain the confidence and the trust of the kids.”
Katke said he’s heard from parents of the children in the baseball clubs. “They were all very shook up,” he said.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Firefighters respond to the fatal fire on Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn on Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Heartfelt condolences and testimonials flooded social media.
“I don’t have the words to express my shock and sadness,” Brian Friedman, the athletic director at the John Jay Campus, wrote in a Facebook post.
“No one did more for the game for all the right reasons. Always about the kids. Always about the game. Always about collaboration. Always about love … You’ll always be loved, missed, and remembered for the incredible man and coach you were. RIP to a legend.”
The Clutch Recruits USA youth baseball league also posted on Facebook about Castro’s legacy.
“Coach Jose was more than a baseball coach. He was a mentor, a role model, and someone who genuinely cared about the young people he coached,” the post reads. “Some people never realize how much a simple word of encouragement, patience, or belief in a child can mean. Coach Jose gave that to so many families and young athletes over the years. His kindness, dedication, and presence will never be forgotten.”
Other mourners spoke of the direct impact the coach had on their lives.
“You dedicated your life to helping others through baseball,” Juan Mercado wrote on Facebook. “Thank you for everything you did for me and my family. You will be missed greatly.”
A neighbor told The News Saturday that Castro’s brother, Miguel Navarro, was a model, fashion designer and party promoter who worked with rappers and hip-hop stars. Navarro was murdered in December 1996 and his killing was never solved, according to a post on Castro’s Instagram page.
Saturday’s blaze comes as the city combats a 64% increase in fatal fires this year. As of May 18, 46 people have died in fires so far this year, compared to 28 deaths in the same time frame last year. The causes range from electrical fires to accidents, to arson, officials said.
