Editor’s note: This story was first published July 20, 2026, in The Batavian. It has been reprinted with permission.
By Brian Quinn
“Greater love hath no man than to give his life for a friend.” That is part of what people will see if they stop at Trigon Park and see the plaque dedicated to Carnegie Hero John N. Aramino, the Le Roy teenager who died on Memorial Day 1961 while saving a young boy’s life.
Sixty-five years have passed since the Le Roy Jr./Sr. High School senior’s passing. His family and friends gathered for a plaque dedication in Aramino’s honor.
Art Aramino, John’s younger brother, said the family was thankful and overwhelmed by the plaque dedication.
“It really does mean a lot. I was telling other people, ‘What I know about John, I read in the papers. I read in the yearbook,'” he said. “I was 7, going on 8. He was 17, going on 18. We didn’t hang out together. I was still into toy trucks and airplanes. I didn’t know much about him. His classmates know a lot more about John than I do. I’m still finding things out after all these years.”
Aramino said his brother’s life meant a lot to a lot of people.
“He died at a very young age. A lot of times, we sit back and wonder, ‘What would John be like had he not passed away that day? What would his future have been like? Would he have been a pilot in the Air Force?’ He was going to the Academy. ‘Would he have become an engineer – an aeronautical engineer? Would he have a family, and I’d have other nephews or nieces?’”
John Aramino’s parents, John and Margaret, lost three children on three separate occasions.
“I can remember my mother sitting at the kitchen table, sobbing, wondering, ‘Why did God take my children from me?'” Art Aramino said. “Now, we know that her faith was being tested, but they never lost faith. They never turned their back on God.”
Aramino’s act of bravery on the tracks around Buttermilk Falls – saving the life of another boy, inspired Art and his brother to be the best they could be, he said.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission states that he died saving Louis P. Brady III from being killed by a train on May 30, 1961.
Louis, 10, followed Aramino, 17, schoolboy, and another youth onto a railroad bridge and about midway between the ends stood watching them as they fired rifles at a can floating in the shallow creek 45 feet below. All three stood at the open vertical side of the bridge near the track on which a train was approaching. When the train was 300 feet from the bridge, the engineer saw them and sounded the whistle. The other youth ran to safety at the opposite side of the bridge. Aramino shouted to Louis, who did not comprehend the warning. Aramino then turned, stepping briefly onto the track on which the train was approaching, and lunged at Louis, grasping him by the shoulders. Louis fell face downward on the gravel ballast, which extended to the open side of the bridge. Aramino also fell to a prone position with his head resting on Louis as the train passed at undiminished speed and stopped beyond them. Louis was removed from beneath Aramino, who had died instantly from being struck by a projection of the train.”
Village Trustee James Bonacquisti, who co-authored “A Knight’s Journey” with John Aramino’s cousin, John Mangefrida, said it took about six months to complete the project, funded by Genesee County.
During the dedication, he thanked police Chief Greg Kellogg; village employees Eileen Carmel, John Piazza, and Mike Rogers for their work in getting things to Sunday’s dedication; Mayor Greg “Porp” Rogers and fellow Village Board members; and Public Works Chief Bob Lathan.
Learning about Aramino’s short, but impactful, life made Bonacquisti proud to be part of the same community in which Aramino had lived, he said. Le Roy Jr./Sr. High School presents a scholarship each year in Aramino’s name, established by his 1961 Le Roy classmates. Aramino’s teammate, Dave Paganin, was the first recipient.
“Another Le Roy hero, Gary Scott, who we will be honoring soon with a state road dedication, was the third winner of this honor,” Bonacquisti said. “I see a lot of our young men and women who received that honor that are here today. Thank you for joining us.”
John Mangefrida said he couldn’t express how much the plaque dedication meant to Aramino’s family.
“Growing up, I remember going over to the Araminos’. There was a picture of John, I think it was after his prom,” Mangefrida said. “There was a picture of [Araminos’ parents] Uncle John and Aunt Margaret with the president, John Kennedy, when he received the Bravery Award from the Department of Justice. I remember that was always a very somber place in the house. You just had unbelievable respect.”
The older he got, the more he learned to appreciate that, Mangefrida said.
In May 1963, Aramino posthumously received the Young American Medal for Bravery in a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden.
Aramino’s cousin, Jean Serusa, was one of three people at Sunday’s dedication who went to Washington, D.C. when President John F. Kennedy presented the medal. The other two were Art Aramino and his cousin, Joann (Mangefrida) Minor.
“It was a beautiful day, like today, in May,” Serusa said. “I will never forget that ceremony. We met President Kennedy when his family got the medal. Aunt Margaret and Uncle John had the choice to stand right there, next to him (Kennedy), for the rest of the ceremony. That was quite an honor. We were impressed by his compassion for the situation.”
The John N. Aramino award.
The award is based on scholastic and athletic achievement. Bonacquisti said a committee which includes Le Roy teachers and John Mangefrida determines the scholarship recipient.
“They’ve got to have good grades and have lettered in two varsity sports,” Bonacquisti said. The award has been presented since 1961.
“That was his graduating class and they put that scholarship together within … four or five weeks,” he said.
The $1,000 award has increased over the years. The proceeds from book sales the first year after Bonacquisti and Mangefrida wrote it went to the John Aramino Award and the Gary Scott Award.
“It got that scholarship (the Aramino Award) reinvigorated,” Bonacquisti said.
“My son, Ryan, won the award in 2013 and that’s when we kicked things off a little bit more, making a bigger deal out of it at the awards ceremony. We increased the honorarium,” Mangefrida said.
