WESTBROOK – A woman recently knocked on Ellen Burrill’s door to tell her a story about her husband, Jimmy Burrill, who died Oct. 15. It was one of several stories Ellen Burrill hadn’t known until after her husband’s death.

The Westbrook coach, the woman said, had bought sneakers for her son so he could play baseball with footwear like his teammates.

“He always wanted to make sure a kid who needed a break got it,” his widow said.

This week Westbrook mourners recalled stories about Burrill, who died at age 71. Known as Jimmy, he was born Carl Burrill in 1939 in Westbrook and was a pitcher on the celebrated 1951 baseball team that played in the Little League World Series. He was widely recognized as a longtime sports booster and youth coach in his hometown.

Ellen Burrill shared some personal memories Tuesday about her husband and anecdotes she has received. The couple had been married 48 years, and he made her coffee faithfully every morning.

She said life without him is unimaginable.

“He loved me deeply and dearly,” she said. “He was just wonderful, unique.”

She’s received a huge number of calls, cards and letters from the community, relating stories from past times.

“I’m amazed, people are telling me things about him I didn’t know,” she said, but added stories of his kindness didn’t surprise her. “He was generous almost to a fault,” she said.

Ron Usher played on the Kiwanis Little League team with Burrill.

“He was a real great friend,” Usher said. “He was the closest buddy I had.”

Burrill grew up on Scotch Hill in Westbrook and he attended church at St. Anthony’s Parish in his old neighborhood.

“Jim was proud of his city. Westbrook was his home,” Ellen Burrill said.

A childhood playmate told Ellen Burrill how as a young child he helped tug a sled for a friend to the hilltop after a winter slide. Another remembered no kid went hungry as Burrill handed out money to his players for pizza.

Jimmy Burrill was the last surviving Westbrook member of the Suburban All Stars, who played in the 1951 Little League World Series. The All Stars included players from Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and Falmouth besides Westbrook. The Maine boys, however, were knocked out of the World Series by a Texas team.

Playing baseball in the series drew recognition for the Scotch Hill kid and teammates.

“It got a lot of publicity,” recalled Nancy Crump of Westbrook, whose father, Chick Canfield, was instrumental in founding Little League in Maine.

“It was such a thrill for me,” Burrill, who pitched his team into that World Series with a 2-1 win, defeating the Port Chester, N.Y., team, said in a 2005 American Journal interview.

Usher, who also worked at the paper mill with Burrill, remembered him as a Little League teammate.

“Jimmy was one of the shortest guys on the team. He had curly hair and a wicked curve ball,” Usher said.

Crump said her father, who accompanied the team to the World Series, took the four Westbrook players under his wing and was very attached to Burrill.

“He was the apple of my father’s eye,” Crump said.

The team was even a guest of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field in New York and were pictured with Dodger players Clyde Sukeforth, the Maine native who was a catcher, and pitcher Ralph Branca.

When the Westbrook Little League played in the 2005 World Series at Williamsport, Pa., Burrill was there.

“He was so proud of them,” Ellen Burrill said.

During the playoffs, Burrill had been interviewed and featured by ESPN as a “hometown hero.”

Rick Knight, who managed that 2005 Westbrook Little League team, remembered Burrill this week as “extremely helpful” and “very knowledgeable.”

When the Westbrook team arrived for the series, Knight said he sat in the stands beside Burrill, who was watching another game.

“He looked at me and said, ‘No matter what happens here, you made it,’” Knight this week recalled Burrill’s words.

Knight said hundreds of Westbrook baseball fans threw a big party in honor of the 1951 team. Speakers blared the radio replay of the game.

The World Series trip generated indelible lifetime memories for Burrill and his teammates. “They had their very first plane ride,” Crump recalled.

As an adult, Burrill coached local baseball and in recent years was a familiar figure as a fan at ballgames. “He was a real student of the game,” Knight said.

Burrill was a standout baseball player at Westbrook High School where he graduated in 1957 and had hurled a no-hitter. Ellen Burrill said her husband was from the old school and knew the techniques of baseball. “He loved to coach kids who had desire,” she said.

A former player was one of a multitude who contacted Ellen Burrill since his death. “He’d give you a kick in the butt, if you needed it,” she said the player wrote.

Ellen Burrill first met her husband- to- be on a blind date when she was 16. One of Burrill’s Little League teammates, Gene McClure, introduced them.

She and her husband returned to Williamsport to mark the 50th anniversary in 2001 of the Suburban All Stars appearance in the World Series. It stirred old memories. They stayed in the same hotel where the team had roomed a half century before.

Burrill was planning to take family members to the Little League World Series in 2011.

He suffered a heart attack 12 years ago. Despite five hip replacements in recent years, he stayed active. The couple often walked together, greeting neighbors and passers by.

George Walker of Westbrook knew Burrill for 50 years and said Burrill always spoke. “Jimmy was just a plain, nice guy,” Walker said.

Burrill enjoyed Westbrook Historical Society activities.

“A great guy, always willing to help,” Mike Sanphy, society president, said.

Burrill died at a bowling alley in Westbrook where he was a member of a league team.

“He loved the camaraderie,” his wife said.