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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The soccer fields on Gordon Avenue were not only close to home for the late Fred Boote, they also were close to his heart and the impetus behind the effort to rename them in his honor.</p><p>Boote&#8217;s son, Bryan, has been working behind the scenes to gather support for the name change. The youth soccer league that uses the complex gave its approval to change the name to the Fred J. Boote Memorial Field. And following the league&#8217;s recommendation, Bryan Boote turned to city council.</p><p>Bryan Boote could not be reached for comment on Thursday.</p><p>Bryan Boote recently sent a letter to city council chairman Mike Belusko asking for assistance and wrote of his father&#8217;s connection to the fields where he walked his dogs, coached his daughter Brittany&#8217;s soccer team and watched his grandchildren&#8217;s games.</p><p>&#8220;He always said the youth fields on Gordon Avenue were &#8216;an asset to the neighborhood,&#8217;&#8221; Bryan Boote wrote in his April 29 letter to Belusko.</p><p>Belusko on Thursday said he will introduce a resolution next week to rename the complex for Boote. He didn&#8217;t see it meeting with any opposition.</p><p>&#8220;I knew him very well,&#8221; Belusko said.</p><p>Renaming the complex would be a &#8220;great tribute&#8221; to Boote, Belusko said.</p><p>Boote, 58, was killed in his Donald Court home in South Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 14. Two people, one of them a teenage girl, were charged in the homicide.</p><p>The name change is just one of the steps the Boote family is taking to honor him and his wife, Erin, who died in 20015. Through the Fred &amp; Erin Boote Scholarship for the Arts the South Wilkes-Barre Skyhawks Youth Soccer league will receive a $2,500 donation to provide new soccer goals and maintenance equipment, the letter said. An annual donation of $500 will go toward registration fees for families in need.</p><p>&#8220;We have kids from all Wilkes-Barre that play here,&#8221; said Greg Barrouk, vice president of the Skyhawks soccer league. The annual donation would be like a scholarship awarded to kids to cover their registration fees, Barrouk said.</p><p>Barrouk added that Bryan Boote reached out to the league. The league, in turn, recommended contacting the city leaders to complete the process of renaming the complex.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a good thing for the community,&#8221; Barrouk said. </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Fred Boote </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_shotsfortots-3-Copy-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Fred Boote </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Family of slain man requests renaming soccer fields in Wilkes-Barre in his honor