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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Decorated World War II hero and hall-of-fame athlete and coach Walter "Bus" Bergman of Grand Junction died Sunday. He was 89.
He is the father of U.S. Senate candidate and former lieutenant governor Jane Norton of Denver. He also is survived by another daughter, Judy Black of Alexandria, Va., and a son, Walt Bergman Jr. of Grand Junction.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
"Everywhere you went, people knew him or knew of him, which always sort of paved the way for us," his son said.
Bus Bergman was a star athlete at Denver's North High School and Colorado A&M (later renamed Colorado State University) and a legendary coach at Mesa State College.
The athletic fields at Mesa State are named in his honor. Bergman also is credited with helping bring the National Junior College Athletic Association baseball tournament to Grand Junction in 1959.
Tillie Bishop, a former legislator who sits on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, was an assistant baseball coach for Bergman from 1963 to 1968.
"Bus cared about his players on and off the field. He was concerned with teaching them to be young men and preparing them for careers," he said.
During World War II, Bergman was a Marine major and received the Bronze Star for heroism during the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14776273#ixzz0jaHthiJN
He is the father of U.S. Senate candidate and former lieutenant governor Jane Norton of Denver. He also is survived by another daughter, Judy Black of Alexandria, Va., and a son, Walt Bergman Jr. of Grand Junction.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
"Everywhere you went, people knew him or knew of him, which always sort of paved the way for us," his son said.
Bus Bergman was a star athlete at Denver's North High School and Colorado A&M (later renamed Colorado State University) and a legendary coach at Mesa State College.
The athletic fields at Mesa State are named in his honor. Bergman also is credited with helping bring the National Junior College Athletic Association baseball tournament to Grand Junction in 1959.
Tillie Bishop, a former legislator who sits on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, was an assistant baseball coach for Bergman from 1963 to 1968.
"Bus cared about his players on and off the field. He was concerned with teaching them to be young men and preparing them for careers," he said.
During World War II, Bergman was a Marine major and received the Bronze Star for heroism during the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14776273#ixzz0jaHthiJN
