To the Son of UrsaMajor

I want you to be absolutely clear and know that your father was as solid a Cal poster as there ever was. I respected him without question as many here undoubtedly have and will show.

I remember my first post that I received from him. Let's say he gently...or maybe the more apropos word is slyly...kept me in line. I liked him immediately.

I am truely sorry for you and your family's loss. I can tell you that I will miss him greatly; he was an ally. He was one of the first who had the courage to admit that he wanted to be my friend when I sought and asked for such under one of the old versions of the present site.

I felt one knew the man and may have meant him personally (although he didn't know it as I'm shy).

Thank you for performing your sad adult duty.

Please know that he will live on in my memories....this I swear....

Go Bears!

-Blueblood

UrsaMajor said:

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Hello BI community,

It is with great sadness that I'm posting this on behalf of my Dad, UrsaMajor, who passed away on Wednesday evening after a 15 month battle with t-cell lymphoma. He grew up a local kid in San Francisco and was a 1968 UC Berkeley graduate. Most importantly, he was a diehard Cal fan and supporter who believed in the superiority of Berkeley (particularly compared with the LSJ Discount Cretin Emporium in Palo Alto).

UrsaMajor loved Cal. Every sport. Every department. Every Nobel prize was a beacon of pride for him and his beloved University. I've never seen my dad show an interest in golf, but when Colin Morikawa was winning, you knew he was glued to the TV watching every final round stroke. He'd watch and cheer at a cherry pit spitting contest if Cal was involved. He watched Cal's last Rose Bowl and used to regale me with stories of his undergraduate years watching football on autumnal Saturday afternoons in a rowdy Memorial Stadium student section. He made sure it sounded like the students had more fun back in his day, like when the students would launch water balloons at the U$C and Stanfurd bands from the banner poles at the back of the stadium. His favorite football memory from before my time is of course when he went to the 1982 Big Game with my mom and a pair of Stanfurd friends. Seething, raging silence reportedly dominated the post-game dinner with my pops smiling along.

His legacy as a fan continues on with me, I suppose. I grew up in Berkeley, in town and on the campus, but I never actually attended the school. Worked a few research jobs here and there at Cal, but I went to Brown (Go Bears!). Still, I spent 5 or 6 Saturdays a year at Memorial and around 20 games at Haas Pavilion (a few at Harmon, too). I was raised to hate Red, love blue, and tolerate baby blue cause at least it's in the family. My father made damn sure that I was going to be a Cal fan, even if I didn't attend the school (I didn't get in, actually). So, for the years and years of brutal disappointment, thanks Dad. Of course I hoped that the Bears might smell roses before he passed. Perhaps a shot this year (pre-virus). Alas, it will end that Mack Brown's begging and DeSean Jackson's toe on the line against Arizona will remain the closest he got to seeing it again. In all seriousness, some of my best memories and some of our best father-son bonding came watching Cal sports. I remember my first Big Game when Joe Igber shredded the trees into the ground. I remember as a kid being in awe of card stunts and the marching band. I was there for Cal 34-U$3 31 3OT. Good times

In the end, I wanted to show gratitude to the Cal Bears family and fandom, especially here at BI. My dad spent many hours on here (I'll ghost around and check out the free forums, myself). He thought you were all idiots, sore losers, sore winners, hilarious, absurd, sunshine pumpers, nega-bears, reactionaries, and trolls. He was inspired, informed, and entertained by the threads and topics here and on the Basketball and premium forums. Thank you all for providing a playground for Cal fans to express their excitement, optimism, and well-deserved pessimism. I only ever perused this forum occasionally, so I don't know how UrsaMajor comes across online as compared with my experience. However, I can hope you found him as thoughtful, insightful, annoying, and as blue-bleeding as I did.

Thanks to the community and Go Bears!

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To Son of Ursa and Ursa's Family:

Condolences to you and all of Ursa's family. May Ursa Rest In Peace!

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing all this background about Ursa with all of us. The whole average Insider family shares in your sadness.

I got to know Ursa here at BI through his thoughtful posts. We exchanged a few messages and finally had a few phone conversations because we shared the passion for traveling to out of way places (and of course everything Cal).

In 2018, when I was considering going on a tour of five "Stans", he kindly shared his experience about his tour of the same region with me during a long phone conversation. What a insightful gentleman.

Earlier this year when I had to cancel my planned trips due to COVID-19, I reached out to him for advice. Once again what a knowledgable gentleman.

This year, we had talked about a tour of Battlefields of WW I & II and a tour of Arctic Circle. I had no idea he was in the midst of a life threatening battle with t-cell lymphoma and he never mentioned it. He was so full of life and future plans. I am sharing his last message of May 5, 2029 to show how full of life and hope for future he was :
"... of course everything depends on the virus, etc. I have hope to teach in Slovenia in 2021 and have a conference in Genova in July 2021. We are scheduled for a cruise to Artic in June 2021, but, don't know it will happen or not ...."

Life life life....

Ursa, was so full of life and plans.

Ursa, I miss you man (even though we never met in person).

You are and always will be a great Golden Bear. RIP!

Go Bears!

Ursa Minor,

I've been away from the Insider for some months, so I nearly missed seeing your post. I want to echo all the heartfelt sentiments expressed here in this thread regarding your father's passing and for publishing here your wonderful and most thoughtful tribute to him. Ursa Major was a most respected member of this forum, and the best supporter of Cal and Cal sports that anyone could be.

When I first joined the Bear Insider, after a few posts, Ursa Major reached out to me with some private messages which were often in agreement and sometimes critical, but always honest, and always wanting what is best for Cal. I appreciated that, and we became fast online friends over the years, exchanging many private messages on a range of subjects. We came to know each other, both being raised in San Francisco, he in the Richmond district, and I in the Haight, and we shared memories of growing up in the City. It was fun to learn that after college, he came to live in an apartment house that was only a half block away from the apartment house where I grew up. I had left the neighborhood some years before to attend Cal, but we shared our stories of that neighborhood near UCSF. I learned much from him about Cal and Cal sports, and I learned much about the sport of swimming from him, which was one of his passions. I will miss his insight as to what was going on behind the scenes in the Cal Administration, both in athletics and in general. He apparently had relationships with many in the Administration, from the Chancellor on down, but he never bragged about that, and only gave us what those in powerful positions had been willing to share with him, so we would have a better idea of what was involved when they made their decisions about sports and about the running of the University. I will miss reading the love for Cal he had in his heart, as he praised Cal, or how he weighed in on arguments between Cal fans with opposing views, often to tone the arguments down, and remind us that the objective should always be what is best for Cal.

We exchanged numerous private messages on the Bear Insider, but we never met in person. He once invited me to join him at a Cal basketball game, but a friend had already invited me, and that prevented me from meeting Ursa Major that day. We last talked back in April, when I told him I was hoping to invite several Bear Insiders to have dinner in Berkeley before a basketball game, and he was enthusiastic about attending.

He was an honest man, who could tell you what he thought without offending. He was a passionate advocate for all things Cal, and passionate about life. He was a good friend to me, and I will miss him a lot. I thank the Bear Insider for giving me the chance to meet someone like Ursa Major, and he is surely one of the reasons I continue to follow the Bear Insider.

Thank you for letting Bear Insider know your father passed away. You can see from the comments he meant a great deal to this group of loyal fans. When Ursa spoke, MamaBear listened. Thanks also to those who posted videos of the band, the bagpipes, etc. "Our sturdy Golden Bear is watching from the sky". RIP UrsaMajor.

I add my condolences to you and those in the thread who have articulated how much Ursa Major meant to this forum. When his name popped up, I stopped and read every word. Perhaps it was because we are near the same age and had the same Cal athletic experiences--down to a Rose Bowl. The times I did not agree with his opinion I thought about his "take" on the subject. Add his death to a distinguished list of Americans who died this year--not an easy year to have maneuvered. He will RIP because he was a good Cal man and an exemplary father.