I may be mistaken, but isn't today, Feruary 19, the 37th anniversary of Joe Roth's passing?

I believe you are right and his passing still saddens me.
Go Bears!

You are correct. Last year, I posted this bit of information but I'll repeat it here as well.

February 19th not only marks the day Joe died but it's also the day his mother, Lena, died. It also happens to be the same exact day Joe's grandmother (Lena's mom) died.

This post makes me officially feel old because I was at Cal when Joe Roth was there. Thanks for the reminder.

I was in Brennan's at the foot of University getting hammered with a few buddies when I saw his face on the news on the TV behind the bar. I suspected why his face was on the TV and it made me sick. It was a Saturday night. I was in my first year of law school. I was introduced to him once after Sunday Mass at Newman Hall in 1976 and shook his hand. He was a gentle spirit.

bearister;842284245 said:

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I was in Brennan's at the foot of University getting hammered with a few buddies when I saw his face on the news on the TV behind the bar. I suspected why his face was on the TV and it made me sick. It was a Saturday night. I was in my first year of law school. I was introduced to him once after Sunday Mass at Newman Hall in 1976 and shook his hand. He was a gentle spirit.

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I was in Harmon Gym when Dave Maggard made the announcement. Tremendously sad, shocking to all but the few who had already heard and very moving: A long moment of silence (during which you could hear a pin drop), followed by the Straw Hat Band singing "Hail to California".

I was helping on the KALX broadcast that night...I think some of the impact was lost on my own youth-I appreciated and respected the loss more and more as the year's have gone on.