Honoring the memory of his former college roommate at University of California, Davis keeps longtime Moraga resident John Silverfoote busy after his recent retirement as a stock trader for an investment management firm in Menlo Park.
As president of the board of directors of the Phil Wells Memorial Scholarship fund, Silverfoote has helped to organize the third annual golf tournament at Diablo Country Club, which will take place next Monday, Sept 10.
Both Silverfoote and Wells played football at Davis during the early years of the Aggies' reign as perennial champions of the Far Western Conference, forging a strong friendship that lasted until Wells passed away from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2015 at the age of 63.
According to Bob Dunning, a sportswriter for the Davis Enterprise, "Wells was one of the Aggies' all-time best athletes, fondly remembered by his UC Davis teammates and the thousands of Aggie fans who followed his career."
In his senior year, Wells, a defensive end, was a Little All-American, FWC Player-of-the-Year, All-League, a team captain, and winner of the Babe Slater award for best male athlete at Davis.
Wells tried out with the San Diego Chargers, but after being cut he returned to Davis where he lived with Silverfoote, who was in his senior year.
"When Wells passed away, we immediately got together and decided to do an endowment fund," says Silverfoote. "He was a real loved guy. We thought it was a worthwhile endeavor, but it wasn't easy getting it to fly."
The first hurdle they faced was raising $25,000 in order to qualify in the UC Foundation system. Silverfoote is hopeful that the endowment will reach nearly $135,000 after next week's tournament.
Last year they gave their first $10,000 grant to Wes Preece, a tight end out of Rocklin.
For information on the tourney or the endowment, contact Silverfoote at Foot24@comcast.net.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA