I met Dez at Montera. He was very influential on myself and my older brother Bob. He pushed us both but was also a kind man who tried to reach us during our teenage years. I had no idea that when I was on teams for several years for Young America baseball, Dez was Director of that. I ran into him several times through the years in the late 80s and early 90s in Montclair and it was always like seeing an old friend. He was a good guy and I don’t think there’s a higher compliment. Bob and I want to extend our condolences and prayers for the family and everyone

As a young boy I was tested (Stanford-Binet IQ testing) by Des at Jefferson Elementary School on 39th Avenue in Oakland. I am unsure how my parents knew Des. I recall sitting in a classroom and going through a series of written questions and answering other questions about diagrams, drawings and pictures. I can still see Des in my mind although the testing occurred 68 years ago.

I remember Des from Montera. I had moved to Oakland in time to start 9th grade. I never had him for a teacher but would see him around the school. Flash forward years and after graduating from Skyline my mom and I would see him shopping at Luckys or Albertsons . I'd tell him about the class reunions and made a copy of info we got about what the Kids were now downing 20 or 30 years after. He enjoyed reading it and enjoyed hearing from some on the guys who had kept in touch with him.

My brother and I attended Montera and rode our bikes to the gym on Saturdays to play basketball for hours, sustained by bottles of Coca-Cola.  Often Des would play which brought us special joy.  Des coached me on the JV basketball team at Skyline and my brother on AD Gordon baseball.  Des taught us the fundamentals of basketball and treated us with care and respect.  We loved him.

Des was not only a great coach, but a great man. I played baseball under him at Montclair Park in Oakland and he made me a t3am captain. He also schooled my great friend Steve Brye, who was the first round pick of the Minnesota Twins in the 1966 MLB Draft. I became a sportswriter at the Oakland Tribune in 1967, and covered many of his games at Alameda High. The football field there shoule