(The following is the first of a two parts on people who have Cape Coral parks and facilities named in their honor.)

What’s in a name? Plenty, if one looks at the names on many of the parks and facilities in Cape Coral. Those names represent accomplishment, devotion, passion and commitment to community. They also pay tribute to men, women and a child who shaped this community in many ways.

As Cape Coral celebrates 50 years of incorporation in 2020, I am taking residents on a journey through history of how many of these names became part of our history.

Koza/Saladino Park

Joe Koza loves everything to do with baseball. The sound of finding the sweet spot on a bat, a ball crisply settling into the web of a mitt. Children laughing and learning on the diamond of their dreams. Koza and Vinny Saladino created the Little League programs in Cape Coral, building an atmosphere that inspired fun, talent and a place for families to watch their children grow.

Koza, 94, still resides in Cape Coral, but life abruptly changed for him last week. An electrical fire took the home where he had lived since 1972; where he and his wife raised their family. Fortunately, Koza was outside at the time of the fire and was not hurt. But the home is inhabitable and most of his belongings and memories are gone. He did not have homeowner’s insurance.

“The house is a total loss. It is all very devastating,” said his son, Jeff Koza. “He was out back on his scooter. He could have been inside taking a nap. It’s the house where we grew up.”

Joe Koza, a Navy veteran, retired from the post office in Newark, N.J., and moved his family into Lee County in 1966. He owned a lawn maintenance business, drove a school bus and later became coordinator for the Lee Transit System. Then, Koza and Saladino started the baseball programs.

In 1993, the city built a new baseball park that became home to Cape Coral American Little League Baseball and named it after the two men.

A GoFundMe account has been created for Koza and his family with the hope of one day rebuilding his home.

Jason Verdow Park

The ball fields and playground that many families enjoy today honors the life of a young boy, who was kidnapped and murdered at just 9 years old. Jason Verdow loved baseball and was a member of the Cape Coral Yankees Little League Baseball team. The third grader at Caloosa Elementary School also enjoyed golf and fishing. The son of Helen Hubbard and Walter Verdow was kidnapped from his school bus stop and murdered on March 5, 1976. Arthur Goode III was convicted of Jason’s murder and executed on April 5, 1984.

The field on Southeast 27th Street, where Jason used to play for the Yankees, was renamed Jason Verdow Memorial Park not long after his death. It is the oldest baseball field in the city and has been home to the Cape Coral National Little League.

“He was the perfect child. I know you’re thinking this is what all mothers believe. But in Jason’s case it was true,” his mother told Florida Weekly. “He loved baseball. He was sweet. He was an angel, an absolute angel.”

Tony Rotino Center

Over several decades, the Tony Rotino Center at the Yacht Club has been the home of events for hundreds of organizations. Anthony “Tony” Rotino immersed himself into Cape Coral and its people. He remains the only City Council member in its 50 years to serve for 16 straight years from 1978 to 1994. He was a member of Kiwanis, the Italian American Club and the Volunteer Fireman’s Association.

“I served with Tony on City Council for 10 years. He was  a true public servant who loved to help people,” former mayor Joe Mazurkiewicz said.

Rotino passed away on Dec. 22, 2009, at the age of 95. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., he retired from

Ford Motor Company and moved to Cape Coral from Sheffield., Ohio, in 1975.

He made only $1 a year as a councilman, but the time he spent with residents, listening and helping, was worth much more.

The Cape Coral Museum of History will pay tribute to the people whose names grace our parks and facilities as part of a special exhibit, which begins Feb. 5.

Tom Hayden is a Cape Coral Museum of History board member. As we celebrate 50 years as a city, much of our area’s history, chronicled at the museum, will be featured twice a month in similar articles provided to the Cape Coral Breeze.