Leonard Grace, 63, a longtime basketball coach for the MapSO Basketball Recreation League, passed away peacefully on Monday, October 5, 2026, surrounded by his family.
On October 6, he was remembered by his former colleagues in Maplewood.
“Lenny really loved basketball,” said Mayor Vic De Luca at the October 6 Township Committee. “And that was his true passion, working and mentoring the young people of our community and working in the Department of Community Services. We thank you, Lenny Grace, and recognize you, and we’ll always remember you.”
De Luca noted that “Coach Lenny” had worked for the Township for five years at the The Woodland and for 20 years as a youth basketball coach.
A celebration of Grace’s life will be held on Wednesday, October 14. 2026, at 11:00 am at First Baptist Church of Vauxhall, 5 Hilton Avenue Vauxhall, NJ. Visitation starts at 9:00 am. The service starts at 11 a.m.
A meal train has been organized to aid Grace’s family at https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/vm5098.
On her Facebook page, Maplewood Director of Community Services Melissa Mancuso shared a video and wrote a tribute to Grace:
Coach Lenny Grace.
Our mentor. Advice giver. Support lender. Form checker. Listener. Smile spreader.
Our guiding force has left the gym.
Coach Lenny, you will be missed forever. Thank you for shaping so many young lives, for founding our basketball program, and for building the connections that made our basketball community a family. For bringing us together. For loving our players like your own.
We love you, Coach. You will forever be honored in the Department of Community Services and in the lives of the players you helped raise through more than twenty years of Mapso basketball.
You’ve commanded our attention through a whistle (IYKYK), and mostly through love. The kind of love that is rare and different, and unyieldingly authentic.
Your passion for basketball created generational bonds. Thank you for the lessons, and for your time. You invested in our players and their families, and our community is better for it.
