Lindenhurst native Paul Brodmerkel, influential member of LI wrestling community, dies at 76

When you grow up in a house with 13 siblings — and wrestling is the sport of choice — inevitably furniture was broken. That’s how it was growing up Brodmerkel on Monroe Avenue in Lindenhurst.

“They grew up in a Cape Cod-style home with one bathroom for 15 people,” said former Lindenhurst High School varsity wrestling coach Joe Russo, who now lives in Delray Beach, Florida. “You can imagine the brawls in that house. They moved the furniture to wrestle. They ate their meals in shifts because everyone couldn’t sit at the table at the same time. What a great family.”

One of those who claimed many of those unofficial living room titles was Paul Brodmerkel, an eventual Suffolk County high school wrestling champion, accomplished collegiate wrestler and a longtime coach and educator in the Lindenhurst school district.

Brodmerkel, who had moved to West Islip, died at the age of 76 on Oct. 31.

“Everyone loved Paul, I loved Paul,” former Hofstra University wrestling coach Nick Gallo, of Mount Sinai, said. “I thought he was making a comeback battling illness until it became too difficult at the end. He was family to me. He always said, 'The journey was the best thing about being successful. It’s the hard times that you make it through that make it worth it.’ And I live by that.”

Brodmerkel was born on June 22, 1949, in Lindenhurst. He was a standout wrestler at Lindenhurst, winning the Suffolk title as a senior at 127 pounds. He graduated in 1967 and continued to excel on the mat at Lock Haven University. He was a team captain for the Bald Eagles and a two-time Pennsylvania state college wrestling champion from 1970-71, qualifying for the NCAA Division I tournament.

“He was an accomplished wrestler, so tough,” said Kenny Brodmerkel, of West Islip. “My brother was a super guy who everyone in the family turned to whenever we needed anything. Paul took care of everything for all of us. When someone needed something, Paul was there for them.”

Brodmerkel joined Springfield University in 1972 as an assistant wrestling coach for one year before returning to Lindenhurst in 1973 to succeed his mentor, Jack Stanbro, as the Lindenhurst varsity wrestling coach. Russo eventually succeeded Brodmerkel, who guided the Bulldogs for seven years before accepting the assistant coaching position at Hofstra under Gallo.

“I was a young coach at Hofstra at 21 years old,” said Gallo, who wrestled at Hofstra and won the NCAA wrestling championship at 126 pounds in 1977. “And I brought in Paul because he was very organized and loved to teach.”

Brodmerkel, who worked as a physical education teacher in Lindenhurst for 30 years, also served as the Section XI wrestling chairman from 1988-93. He was recognized nationally in 2009, when he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for lifetime service to wrestling.

His son, Chris Brodmerkel, of West Islip, won the Suffolk title at 155 pounds in 1995. The two are one of nine father-son combinations to win Suffolk titles.

“He was a wrestling icon,” Chris Brodmerkel said. “But he was also a legendary lifeguard for 40 years. We worked together at Cedar Beach in the Town of Babylon. He swam out and saved many lives in the ocean. But the one save that really stuck with me came on the beach. A baby was choking to death, and my father ran over and flipped the baby on its side. He used back blows and dislodged a grape to save the baby’s life — incredible. He’d done it like he’d been there a million times before.”

In addition to his son, Brodmerkel is survived by his wife, Susan (Zere) Brodmerkel, daughter Jaymee Gagliardi,  and five grandchildren.

He’s also survived by siblings Billy Brodmerkel, of Shoreham; Diane Mott, of New Hampshire; John Brodmerkel, of Florida; Ricky Brodmerkel, of North Carolina; Kenny Brodmerkel, of West Islip; Jeanne Verron, of West Islip; Mary Ferguson, of Colorado; Susan Concannon, of Connecticut; David Brodmerkel, of Babylon; and Dennis Brodmerkel, of West Babylon. His parents, William and Regina (Vogl) Brodmerkel, and brothers Donald and Bobby Brodmerkel, predeceased him.