The George B. Kelley Amateur Baseball Federation is mourning the loss of its longstanding leader.

Tom Stout, who held the league presidency since 1973, died Thursday from heart complications. He was 82.

“It’s a sad day,” Matt Cursio, the Federation’s executive director, said. “Baseball was his lifeline. He wanted to make sure it succeeded for the young men who played baseball in the city of Altoona. His face is truly going to be missed at Vets Field and Geesey Park.”

Stout managed the Cpl. Miller entry for many years, but his mark was made as the Federation’s driving force, upholding the league’s mantra of “more baseball for more boys.”

In 2015, at Stout’s urging, the league leased Geesey Park from the Central Blair Recreation Commission and made it a primary Federation home.

Stout and close friend Tom Ardrey spearheaded the maintenance efforts.

“People won’t know how much they’re going to miss this guy,” Ardrey said, adding Stout often contributed his own resources. “He did so much for baseball in this area. He was up there (at Geesey) every day — cutting the grass, lining the field, dragging the field.”

Since the Federation assumed responsibility at Geesey, with help from Blair County, restrooms, a press box and a scoreboard have been added.

After the Altoona Rail Kings left Vets Field, Stout and Ardrey painted the stadium.

“He remarked how peaceful it was,” Ardrey, 70, said. “Everybody thought he was my dad. We went to all the games together.”

Stout, who held a position with the National Amateur Baseball Federation and was on several community boards, staunchly resisted the disruption of Altoona’s ward-based system that created roster boundaries.

“Mr. Stout did everything,” Cursio, 52, said. “He was the (league) president, the treasurer, the groundskeeper. People will say to me that Mr. Stout didn’t make a lot of friends. But the fact that he kept the league going, and it continued to grow, I still believe he did a great job.”

Despite Stout’s stance, the league expanded to include teams from throughout Blair County under his watch.

“Especially in these last few years, with all these other rosters and travel teams, it’s been a struggle, but he never hung his head,” Cursio said, pledging to help keep the league going.

John Austin managed the 13th Ward for years in the late 1970s-early ’80s and is now the president of the Altoona AAABA League.

While he acknowledged “a different philosophy,” he respected Stout’s commitment.

“Tom and I were friends in baseball,” Austin said. “I certainly admire everything he did holding the Kelley Federation together and getting Geesey. He wanted the kids to enjoy the game of baseball.”

Scott McClellan of Park Furniture, the league’s most tenured manager, called Stout’s passing “quite a loss. His whole life was baseball. He’s going to be missed, no doubt.”

Stout befriended the Wilson brothers, Danny and Allen, giving them scorekeeping jobs and ball-chasing duties at Vets Field and a few bucks.

“He did a lot for those boys,” Cursio said.

Wilson expressed his condolences Friday night, saying, “I just wish the best for his family.”

With his health failing, Stout turned the presidency over couple months ago to Eric Wardrop.

On Sunday, Stout asked his son to cover the Geesey Park pitcher’s mound for the winter.

Stout had been hospitalized over the past weeks, but in his final hours Thursday, he was permitted to go home.

Family told Ardrey that Stout, “got out of the hospital and went to McDonald’s for a vanilla milkshake. He passed the high school to see the construction, and then he wanted to go past Vets Field.”

A couple hours later, he passed away.

“That’s the way he’d want to go,” Ardrey said.

For funeral arrangements, please see Stout’s obituary on Page A5.