By JOHN ANDERSON, and a eulogy by PAUL VECCHIO
When your phone starts to light up with texts from people you hear from casually all at once, it’s usually bad news.
This time, it was stunning news. Jason Amore had passed away. This should not have happened. He was having a surgery on something like his knee. I’m not sure the details, but the details that matter are, he should not have died suddenly. He has a wonderful family, he had a wonderful new job he was starting.
I was trying to come up with words about Jason, but sadly, a kid I interviewed twice a week for almost a year, I had grown apart from. I could not accurately describe the man he became.
Thank God for Paul Vecchio. Many know Paul as an amazing athletic director who has helped turn programs around from Division I to Division III. But I first knew him as a great writer. And Paul used that ability, plus his friendship with Jason, to pen a eulogy from the heart. He posted it on Jason’s page and I am sharing it below because it’s better than any tribute I could write.
Paul writes about Jason’s Amore’s life when they met as he started his college career as a freshman.
So I can fill in a few blanks about his high school career. Paul mentioned in his eulogy how Jason would walk into an opposing gym and drop 40 points, play with a high amount of confidence and swagger and get yelled at by opposing fans well after the game was over and on his way to the bus!
I’ll never forget a game in Whitesville, in the old gym, Jason was draining 3-pointers near half court (which was also the 3-point line). It was the only place he could shoot them as the sidelines didn’t have enough room in the small gym.
When Whitesville took that long-distance shot away from him, he had to drive. That meant scoring on a much larger Kelly Dunbar, who made sure Jason left the gym with more bruises than he had when he entered. The crowd loved it, but Jason would pop up, smile at Kelly, the crowd, and make the ensuing free throw. He would bounce back on defense. The boos rained down.
At halftime, he raced past the crowd on the wood bleachers to the locker room. A woman with a walker and a oxygen tank removed the tubes from her nose long enough to use her lungs at full capacity. She let Jason know he was a certain word that women universally do not want to be called.
Basketball was glorious in early 1990’s in Allegany County. So many players went on to play and excel in college. And this was pretty much pre-merger. You could beat Whitesville, Angelica and Andover at your house, but not in their gym. The county championship tournament was so big it was moved to Bolivar.
Jason’s game was so big, Friendship Central School, almost knocked off Franklin, one of the best and largest schools in Rochester at the time. On paper, the Wellsville Christmas Tournament was ho-hum. Wellsville, Friendship, Franklin and Prattsburgh. But the Wellsville gym was filled for two days with scouts, as Division I talent filled each roster and each team had players who went on to play in college, including Syracuse.
Again, Jason held his own.
It was so much fun each week in the newspaper to publish the New York State all-time scoring leaders and watch Jason’s name pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other NBA legends. When he graduated, he was #9 all-time with 2,332 points.
As many fans who felt he was cocky, the true testament to the person he was and became was how his opponents felt. That’s how I found out about his death. The players he went against three to four times a year texted me in disbelief. They loved Jason, they loved playing against him and talking to him.
Jason was almost like a professional wrestler at age 16 and 17. He knew the fans wanted him to be the villain and he played the part. Yes, Jason Amore made people circle Friendship on the schedule with a red Sharpie. Try to explain that to kids the last 30 years.
And it wasn’t just basketball. Friendship wasn’t favored to win a Section V baseball title, but Jason, with his swing like former Chicago Cub Mark Grace, blasted one over the right field fence. The Eagles won the title and the bus raced from Silver Stadium to the field the softball team was playing. Jason was able to his dad lead the softball team to a title on the same day.
It was my final chance to interview Jason and as always, he conducted the interview with grace and class, something he learned from his parents.
I hope you can take the time to read some things I have gathered, from Paul’s tribute to a statement from AU and a beautiful obituary. Jason’s calling hours are Friday and Saturday and the funeral is Saturday.
Remembering Jason Amore – 2/10/24
My name is Paul Vecchio. Let me start by saying how incredibly fortunate I feel to be representing the thousands of friends that Jason impacted in his life. The affection he had for the people who entered his life matched his surname – Amore – Italian for love.
Across three decades, four states, three opportunities to work together, raising our families, lifting (and imbibing) spirits, I had a front row seat for the Jason Amore experience. What a ride. And of all the titles I’ve ever had, few have made me prouder then when Jason referred to me as one of his mentors.
Part of the reason so many of us are in disbelief today was because of the way he lived his life. There’s a popular phrase today – “shoot your shot” – that is the essence of who Jason was. In an analogy our dear friend Bryan Karl will appreciate, in life JA pushed all his chips to the center every day. He possessed one speed: full tilt – whether it was in sports, in his career, his friendships or fatherhood – he was who he was because he was never afraid to risk big, never had vanity about who or what he loved, and, well we all know he could never sit still – literally!
This is why this hurts so much, doesn’t seem real, because Jason – by living life on his terms – became larger than life to so many of us.
I first met JA as an 18-year-old freshman basketball player at Alfred University. He was the “Larry Bird” of Allegany County – as an aside for those in the audience under 25 I urge you to look up Larry on You Tube – and I was the Sports Information Director. To say Jason was cocky back then is to say that our Buffalo Bills will always break your heart … it was a fact. In high school, many was the night that Jason would put up 40 points on the road and have half of the town wanting to fistfight him on his way to the bus.
As a freshman that year at AU, if memory serves (although that’s becoming less and less reliable) he broke the school record for three pointers in a game at RIT. Needless to say the entire hour and half bus ride back to Alfred was a re-telling of not only every spot on the floor he scored from but also the trash talk that proceeded or followed every basket. Fortunately, as an adult Jason found time to semi-mature from this type of behavior.
Those two years at Alfred – before I would leave for a job at UB – set the stage for a lifetime of brotherhood for the two of us. A few years later I helped Jason land a position at UB – it was a lousy, low-paying job that required trying to sell basketball tickets and sponsorship for two awful programs (football and men’s basketball) – but, of course, he excelled at it any way. But here’s the thing about Jason that so many of you can appreciate – for that favor – which given how bad the job sucked might not have actually been a favor – he would repay me for the rest of his lifetime. Do good by Jason Amore and you had an advocate for life … I could not have asked for any better.
As Jason’s career grew, I saw that same 18-year-old who was never afraid to take the big shot manifest itself in incredible contributions to colleges fortunate enough to attract him. From his beloved parents he learned how to treat people right, fight for everyone and empower people to be their very best. Along the way he learned how to never take himself too seriously, to always find ways to enjoy the work we did and to get away with fashion faux paux’s that would have ruined a lesser man’s career.
This was a man who took great pride in being a Vice President who dressed like a concert goer whenever possible. He’d call me from his office at Alfred and say, “PV what are you doing? I’m wearing Hawaiian print shorts, flip flops, a Buffet t-shirt, mirrored shades and it says Vice President on my office door!” And then he’d laugh that cartoon JA laugh – “I’ve fooled them for another two weeks!”
But he wasn’t fooling anyone. He had worked his butt off to earn that VP title but never once thought he was more important than the people who worked with him, never for him. He was at ease telling jokes with the grounds crew as he was at dinner with a million-dollar donor. Every admin he ever had would stand in front of a tank for him because of the way he treated them.
The truth is, the guy on the basketball court talking trash, Mr. Good Time while impressing donors, the guy that wore the fancy watch, hid who he really was. At his core, and the version I loved the most, was Jason Amore from tiny, humble Friendship, NY who cared to his core about how he treated people, how he made them feel, what he could do to advance them in their jobs and in their lives. That’s what made him tick, along with his family, it brought color to his world.
I’ll make this a bit personal as I wrap up. 13 months ago after an amazing decade as Director of Athletics at Jason’s alma mater, I resigned my position under great duress. At that moment lots of people that I had counted on, that I thought were in my corner, ran in opposite directions. But Jason Anthony Amore? He ran towards me … he put me in a bear hug both literally and figuratively and said, “In this lifetime you’re always going to be on my team.”
And I ask you, whose team would you rather be on then that guys?
Most of us in the room are familiar with the Billy Joel classic, “Only the Good Die Young.” Well Jason Amore wasn’t just good, he was legendary. He was a comet that lit up our lives, one you may never see again.
May the kindness, loyalty and love he showered on us keep his memory alive in each of us…our world, and each of us in it, will be better for it.
Love you forever, my brother!
Here is a press release from Alfred University:
Jason Amore ’97, ’99 MS, Alfred University’s former vice president for University Advancement, passed away on Tuesday, February 6, at age 48.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home, 3128 Route 417W, Olean, New York. Visitors will be received from 4-8 p.m. Friday, February 9, at the funeral home.
Amore served as vice president for University Advancement at Alfred University for four years before leaving Alfred in 2021 to take the position of senior vice president for Advancement at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). The Friendship, New York, native had recently accepted the position of vice president for Advancement at St. Bonaventure University, and was to begin his duties there on Monday, February 12.
He was appointed vice president of University Advancement at Alfred University in 2017, joining his alma mater with over 20 years of advancement experience in major gift, estate, corporate, and foundation giving and leadership positions in advancement at the University of Rochester, the University of Louisville, RIT, SUNY Geneseo, and the University at Buffalo.
Amore earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Alfred University in 1997 and went on to earn a master’s degree in community services administration, also from Alfred University, in 1999. During his time as an undergraduate, he starred on the men’s basketball team, and as a senior in 1997, helped lead the Saxons to a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. He was inducted into the Alfred University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
Full obituary:
Jason Anthony Amore
ALLEGANY – Jason Anthony Amore, of Allegany, passed away Tuesday (Feb. 6, 2024) after a brief illness.
He was born Aug. 31, 1975, to Dennis J. and Rebecca Stayer Amore.
Jason was a 1993 graduate of Friendship Central School. While at Friendship, he excelled in many areas academically as well as athletically. Jason scored over 2,000 points in basketball and could hit a baseball over the homerun fence with ease. He was inducted into the Allegany County Sports Hall of Fame and also inducted into the Section V Athletic Hall of Fame.
After high school, he attended Alfred University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as having been inducted into the Saxon’s Hall of Fame. He was captain of the basketball team for three years and led the team to the 1997 NCAA Division III tournament and left his mark by scoring over 1,000 points.
Jason worked for over 20 years in the field of advancement for various universities, including the University of Louisville where he was instrumental in the development of a billion-dollar capital campaign, and in overseeing the closing of more than $230 million in major gifts.
He worked at his alma mater, Alfred University, where he more than doubled the annual rate of giving, securing $36 million in major gifts. More recently Jason was at Fairleigh Dickinson, where he helped FDU land several of the largest gifts the school had ever received to assist student initiatives.
Jason was beyond excited when he was recently named vice president for university advancement at St. Bonaventure University. It was his dream job. Jason’s enthusiasm and determination was unbelievable, and he couldn’t wait to officially be part of his “team.” He wanted to come back to where he held so many special memories spent with his dad at SBU basketball games.
His two children, Julian and Adelynn, were his whole world, his pride and joy. He enjoyed coaching his son Julian’s basketball team (a chip off the old block as far as playing basketball by the way). Jason was a “sideline coach” when Julian was on the soccer field. Also, he beamed while watching his daughter Addie compete in gymnastics and win numerous medals.
His heartbroken family will miss him and will cherish all the great memories.
Holding him forever in their hearts are his mom, Becky (Pat Foley) Amore; his two children, Julian and Adelynn; his beloved siblings, Tiffany and husband Rich Ellis and children, Haley (his goddaughter), Hannah, and Tim; his brother, Ed and wife Dani and their daughter, Anna. Jason also leaves behind his godmother, Chris; uncle, Jeff Mason; his godfather, Dan Gleason; his aunts and uncles, Steve sand Janice Stayer, Marcia Stayer, Joe and Sue Amore and Mike and Gerda Amore; and many cousins. He is also survived by Julian and Addie’s mother, Kara.
Jason was predeceased by his dad, Denny on Oct. 31, 2013; Uncle Bill Stayer; Aunt Sue Rhodes; grandparents, Ed Stayer, Dee Stayer and Anthony and Ramona Amore.
The family will receive friends from 4 to 8 p.m. today (Feb. 9, 2024) at the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral home, 3128 W. State Road, Olean. Visitation will continue from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 10, 2024) at the funeral home. A funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. at St. Bonaventure Church, with Rev. Michael Reyes, OFM, pastor, to officiate. Burial will follow in St. Bonaventure cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jason’s memory may be made to the Dennis J. Amore Memorial Scholarship fund, Allegany County Area Foundation, 6807 Route 19, Crossroads Center #180, Belmont, NY 14813.
“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are,
You will always be in our hearts.”
