Frank Noppenberger has officially been inducted to the South River High School Wall of Fame.
A 1972 graduate of the high school, where he was a three-sport athlete who went on to play football at West Chester State College, Noppenberger has brought prestige and acclaim to his alma mater as an educator and administrator.
The South River High School Wall of Fame honors alumni who have exhibited a high level of achievement in their field and who possess the qualities of a positive role model for South River youth. The names and pictures of inductees appear on the Wall of Fame, located in the high school’s main corridor.
Noppenberger was feted during the South River Wall of Fame/National Honor Society Induction Dinner at the South River Portuguese Club on Dec. 7.
“No one, in my opinion, deserves consideration for this award more than Frank,” South River alumnus Don Heilman said. “He has become everything that the honor represents. He is the kind of person that makes us all proud to be graduates of South River High School.”
As an educator, mentor, and administrator, Noppenberger has selflessly dedicated nearly five decades of his life to assisting student-athletes, teachers, and coaches throughout Middlesex County and beyond.
The former East Brunswick High School athletics director, physical education teacher, and coach currently serves as executive director of the Greater Middlesex Conference, where his experience and leadership remain invaluable.
Through his involvement in myriad roles with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, including serving on the organization’s executive committee, Noppenberger remains among the state’s most respected athletics administrators.
“Frank is respected by everyone in the athletic family within Middlesex County and across the state of New Jersey,” Noppenberger’s former high school teammate Joe Susan said. “His athletic program was always competitive, and the coaches and players did things the right way both on and off the field.”
Susan called Noppenberger a “consummate leader” and “man of integrity” who “exemplifies selfless service.” Heilman noted that Noppenberger is “loved, respected, and admired.”
Noppenberger is the only athletics director from the Greater Middlesex Conference to win the conference’s Athletics Director of the Year award three times, a testament to the profound impact he has made on scholastic sports.
A photo Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and fellow South River High School graduate Drew Pearson autographed for Noppenberger appropriately reads, “To the best AD in New Jersey.” Noppenberger received that very honor in 2011 when he was named the Directors of Athletics Association of New Jersey’s statewide Athletics Director of the Year.
A staunch supporter of high school athletics with an emphasis on sportsmanship and character, Noppenberger always promotes student-athletes in the most positive light. Senator Patrick Diegnan, whose legislative district includes South River and East Brunswick, said Noppenberger “has a giving nature and is always willing to help others.”
Noppenberger serves on the board of trustees for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which has donated more than $300,000 to fulfill its mission of assisting pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area. He plays a paramount role as a spokesperson at fundraising events and has assisted with donation drives that have generated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies and other items for charity.
Noppenberger taught health and physical education at East Brunswick High School from 1977-87 and served as East Brunswick’s athletics director from 1988-2015.
Noppenberger was a head basketball (1984-88) and assistant football coach (1977-84) at East Brunswick, where he earned Coach of the Year honors from the Home News, News Tribune, and WCTC on the hardwood in 1984 and 1988. He led East Brunswick’s basketball team to two Red Division titles, a conference tournament crown, and a sectional championship. Noppenberger still has the highest winning percentage of any coach in East Brunswick boys basketball history.
“Frank’s reputation around the state as a class act and the ultimate professional is well deserved,” former East Brunswick boys basketball coach Bo Henning said.
“Frank is truly a generational administrator who was and is equally effective working with a 25-year veteran or a newly hired teacher or coach. He possesses an incredible gift that allows him to motivate everyone to excel in their craft yet can remain an extremely close friend. His pride in mentoring young educators through a variety of programs proves what an innovative mind he has.”
The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association honored Frank with its Visionary Award in 2009, while the William Denny/Rutgers Football Letterwinners Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame subsequently named Noppenberger its Distinguished American.
“Success and excellence do not happen by accident,” Henning said. “Frank’s strong work ethic, belief in character, and passion for sports at East Brunswick and throughout Middlesex County make him a great candidate for this tremendous honor.”
Noppenberger was Greater Middlesex Conference president from 1990-94 and has served on the league’s executive committee for more than three decades. He has chaired conference committees for seven varsity sports and been instrumental in the league’s Sportsmanship and Scholar-Athlete programs. Noppenberger founded the conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
He has also served on the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletics Association’s Advisory and Hall of Fame selection committees.
“Frank has strong moral standards and is a loving husband (to Nancy) and father (to Lise, Caroline, and Christine),” Susan said.
“He is someone that South River should be very proud of. He exemplifies what our town stands for – strength, confidence, work ethic and humility.”