Cal Year in Review: Remembering Golden Bears Who Died in 2020

Football icons Bud "Dog" Turner and Lee Grosscup won't easily be replaced

I cannot remember when I first met Bud "Dog" Turner. He was around as long as I covered Cal football, and that dates back to the early 1980s.

I do know this: Every time I saw him he had a smile on his face and a kind word.

Turner, a part of the Cal football program in various capacities for a half-century, died at the age of 84 in September after a short illness.

Turner never attended Cal, but he worked for 11 football coaches: Ray Willsey, Mike White, Roger Theder, Joe Kapp, Bruce Snyder, Keith Gilbertson, Steve Mariucci, Tom Holmoe, Jeff Tedford, Sonny Dykes and Justin Wilcox. The 2020 season was going to be his 51st with the Bears.

Turner will be best remembered by generations of Cal football players as the upbeat presence at the north tunnel entering Memorial Stadium who greeted them with a fist bump and his trademark saying, "Great Day to be a Bear."

It was not a great day when Cal lost Bud Turner.

Here's a look back at other Golden Bears who died in 2020:

Eddie Javius / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Popular former player Eddie Javius, remembered for standing atop the basketball rim after Cal ended its 52-game losing streak to UCLA, died at age 54 in March.

 “He left (an) incredible legacy and inspired us all to be at our best and compete your heart out. I always felt he left everything on the floor and he is one of the reasons I became a Cal Bear," former Cal player Bill Elleby wrote on social media. "I loved his enthusiasm and toughness. We are better people for knowing him. RIP Family you taught us how to win in life.”

Mark McNamara / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Basketball star Mark McNamara, who went on to an NBA career, succumbed to heart failure at 60 in April. McNamara began his college career at Santa Clara, 

As a senior at Cal in 1981-82, the 6-foot-11 McNamara averaged 22.0 points and 12.6 rebounds and shot 70.2 percent from the floor, leading the Pac-10 in all three categories. Only three other players have led the conference in all three categories: UCLA's Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton and Arizona State's Ike Diogu.

John Kasser / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Former athletic director John Kasser, whose efforts helped transform Harmon Gym into Haas Pavilion, died at 82 in late April.

Under Kasser's direction, the Golden Bears won nine national team championships, with six coming in rugby, two in men's gymnastics and one in men's rowing. He also hired 14 head coaches, including Ben Braun (men's basketball), Steve Mariucci (football), Tom Holmoe (football) and Rich Feller (volleyball).

Lee Grosscup / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Lee Grosscup, who was a star quarterback at Utah in the 1950s but spent more than 30 seasons as a popular football radio analyst for Cal, died at the age of 83 in June.

Grosscup led the nation in passing in 1957 and played four seasons in the NFL. But to Cal fans, he was the voice alongside play-by-play man Joe Starkey from 1986 through 2018. 

"He had this absolute love for football," said Todd McKim, Cal's sideline reporter. "The stories he had going back decades, it was like sitting next an oracle.”

Robert Shoemaker

— Robert Shoemaker, who played football and rugby at Cal in the 1940s then flew fighter planes over Europe in World War II, died in September. At age 99, he was believed to be the oldest living ex-Cal football player before his passing.

Zoë Rogers / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

— Zoë Rogers, a sophomore goalkeeper on the Cal women's field hockey team, died unexpectedly in October. 

"Zoë was a true individual that brought another layer to the tapestry of our team. She was unselfish, hard working and caring," said Cal coach Shellie Onstead. "She quietly gave back to community wherever she went, whether in Berkeley or Pennsylvania. 

"She raised our awareness of racial justice and helped us begin to form a plan for change. She helped this team grow as players, teammates and people. We will miss her tremendously and remember her always." 

— Randy Hooper, a former Cal baseball player and long-time supporter of the program, died early this month at the age of 68. Hooper was born in Berkeley, raised in Orinda and twice was an all-conference shortstop for the Golden Bears.

Hooper was among the Save Cal Baseball group that rescued the sport when it was scheduled to be cut in 2011 as a cost-saving measure.

— Former Cal football players Phil Croyle, Dr. John Najarian and Pat Micco also died in 2020.