Stephen "Hap" DeAngelis, a longtime trainer turned steward, died Saturday in New Jersey, according to friend Pat Devereux. DeAngelis was 82. 

"He was just a champion of a guy," said Devereux. 

Devereux, a trainer who met DeAngelis years ago in Kentucky, said his friend was a leading trainier on the Ohio circuit before becoming a steward and working tracks in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

Devereux said DeAngelis was a highly personable man whose patience was one of his best attributes as a trainer. He had friends throughout the industry. 

"Anybody that was around him just loved him," Devereux said. 

DeAngelis' survivors include his wife, Lois. 

More to come at www.drf.com