The testimonials to former Arizona athletic director Cedric Dempsey (1983-93) have been impressive since his April 5 death at the age of 92.
Bob Bockrath, Dempsey’s lead assistant at Arizona for eight years before becoming the AD at Cal and Alabama, said, “It was my pleasure to work for the man. He never cursed. He never lost his poise. I’m sorry he’s not here to solve the issues (NIL) of collegiate professionalism.”
Dave Heeke, Arizona’s former AD and a graduate of Dempsey’s Michigan alma mater, Albion College, told me: “Ced was one of the all-time greats, at Arizona and beyond. He was my hero as an athletic administrator and as a man. Arizona was so much better because of Ced, one of the best athletic administrators ever.”
Former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey, pictured at a press conference in 2001, died April 5 at the age of 92.
June Dempsey, Ced’s wife, said that a service honoring her husband will be held near Lodi, California, where the couple had been living in an assisted living facility.
“I only wish he was here to listen to all the accolades about him,” she said. The family hopes to have a celebration of his life this fall in Tucson.
Six years ago, Dempsey phoned to ask if I would write a book about his career. I was excited to do so. We met nine or 10 times on his visits to Tucson, usually for 90 minutes or so at a restaurant or in the clubhouse at the Randolph Golf Course. I listened to the wonderful stories about his boyhood days in Illinois, about how his family was at the poverty level, and how he overcame that with a baseball scholarship to Albion College.
Step by step, his professional career took off, first at Arizona in the mid-’60s, followed by Pacific, San Diego State, Houston, Arizona and as the president of the NCAA. I worried that I could not contain the stories of his wonderful life in less than 500 pages.
We paused, unfortunately, when Ced experienced several serious health issues, and we didn’t get together again.
It was fully my loss and my fault.
