Final respects paid to Delzell

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE — An overflow gathering of mourners paid their final respects on Saturday morning to the late Jim Delzell, a longtime Hoover High baseball coach and teacher.

Delzell, who passed away in his sleep at the age of 50 on the morning of May 2, was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries.

For Hoover High, it was the end to a surreal and sad week.

“It’s been a tough week for Hoover,” Hoover Principal Kevin Welsh said on Friday. “Monday was probably the toughest day.”

On May 2, upon hearing of Delzell’s death, Welsh began calling faculty and staff to tell them the news. On Monday, he began meeting with students in all of Delzell’s physical education classes before talking to the baseball team, which Delzell had coached for 15 seasons before stepping down after the 2008 season. Throughout the week, counseling was also provided for students and staff.

“It’s been a really tough year for baseball with the death of Brandon [Villalobos],” said Welsh in reference to the death of the Tornadoes assistant coach earlier this year in a dune buggy accident. “So this was just unbelievable to put on top of it.”

Welsh was among a myriad of speakers at Saturday’s funeral procession, which saw such a great number of family, friends, current and former Hoover players, coaches from Hoover and other schools and those who knew Delzell throughout his life, that it spilled out around the church. Those who could not get in could hear the eulogies on a speaker system, as well as Grateful Dead music, which played along, as Delzell was a lifelong fan of the group.

Many of the remembrances concentrated on Delzell’s fun-loving ways, ability to tell a great story and the genuine kindness and dignity he afforded everyone, whether it was as a member of the family, a friend, a teacher, a coach or a teammate.

Joining Welsh in speaking, among others, were members of Delzell’s family, those who knew him during his baseball playing days at Occidental College and Jack Van Patten, the Hoover athletic director, who was a longtime colleague and friend of Delzell’s.

There has also been a Jim Delzell Memorial Fund set up. Those wishing to contribute donations can send them to Hoover High School-Jim Delzell Memorial Fund, 651 Glenwood Rd, Glendale, 91202. Checks should be made payable to Karen or Jim Delzell.