Former School Superintendent Michael Subotich Dies

Michael Subotich, who served as Ocean City's superintendent of schools from 1969 to 1989, died of pneumonia on Wednesday.

Friends and former colleagues are mourning the loss of a man they knew as an icon, a man they both feared and loved and, by all accounts, a man who helped build a reputation for Ocean City as a leader among school districts statewide.

A relative who answered the phone at Subotich's home on Thursday said the family was not ready to talk about funeral arrangements, but a Facebook post by a former Ocean City High School student indicates the following:

• Funeral visitations will be 6-9 p.m. Monday, May 23 at the Wimberg Funeral Home (1707 New Rd., Linwood).
• Visitation 9-10 a.m. Tuesday, May 24, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church (Jerome and Ventnor avenues, Margate).
• Interment at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Mays Landing.

Subotich came to Ocean City High School in the early 1950s as a teacher and football coach. He served as assistant principal for seven years and principal for five, before being named superintendent in 1969.

"We've never had a phenomenon like Mike Subotich," said Jean Bell, who taught at Ocean City High School from 1958 to 1962 and again from 1973 until she retired in 2000.

Bell spoke of a man who had friends and connections throughout the state.

"The money flowed into the district," Bell said. "Money that literally put us on the map. There was nothing that a teacher asked for that he couldn't get."

Bell described a tall, handsome man "always dressed beautifully with a flower in his lapel."

"He was very shrewd and caring about Ocean City," she said. "A superlative human being."

"The entire state knew him—anything that was new in education, he had it," said Ginny Mulford, who graduated from Ocean City High School in 1970 and returned four years later to start a 36-year career as an art teacher there. "People knew you were from Ocean City, because you were Mike Subotich's."

Mulford helped organize recent all-class reunions for Ocean City High School, and Subotich was always a center of attention.

"The stories he told us were amazing" she said.

Mulford said she was "scared to death" of Subotich as a student and when she interviewed for her job in 1974. But she came to know a man who believed in his staff.

"He knew who we were personally," she said. "And he knew our potential. He was well-known and loved by all. Everybody talks about it like it was this monumentally unique time."

George Loder played football for Subotich in the 1950s and recalls taking a hit that left him barely able to walk. He remembers Subotich asking him if he'd run through a brick wall for his coach.

"You're going to do it," Subotich told Loder. "You're going to do it."

A play later, Loder ran straight at the opposing line, broke through and scored a touchdown.

"He took such a hit," Mulford recalls Subotich saying at one of the reunions. "Nobody could get up from that. And the kid got up."

Loder, a former animal control officer for the city, became lifelong friends with Subotich.

Mulford's daughter, Shawna, posted a Facebook tribute to Subotich, and some of the comments included:

• Brenda Green: "So sorry to learn of the passing of Mr. Subotich. But glad that I was in attendance when he was honored at the 2010 Red & White Weekend! When I last spoke with him (around Christmas) he was still basking in the memories of that honor!"
• Barbara L. DiNardo-Rash: "No one will EVER wear a rose on his lapel like Mr. Subotich did. What would be the chances of getting his lapel pin and keep it forever encased in the school."
• Brenda Green: "EVERYONE who attended OC Public Schools in the last half-century has a Mike Subotich story!"
• John A Fitzick: "MIKE i'll miss U."

To see a video interview with Subotich: oceancity.net/video/2009-red-and-white-day-1