Thank you to Dave Plati for putting together the following list of Buffs lost over the last year….they will be forever a Buff….
John Denvir, Football
John Denvir, the starting offensive left tackle and defensive tackle for the 1961 Big 8 Champions and Orange Bowl team, passed away in Bakersfield, Calif., on December 23. He was 76.
He was born on April 30, 1938 in Connellsville, Pa., where he would attend Immaculate Conception High School, but they didn’t have a football team; he was on the basketball team. He was invited to play in a summer all-star game because of his size and eventually enrolled at West Virginia, before transferring to CU for his final three years of college. He tried out for the Buffs as a walk-on and would earn a scholarship. He was drafted by San Diego in the 1962 AFL Draft, but would play that year for the Denver Broncos.
He earned both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in History from CU, and would teach for over 30 years in the California school system. He enjoyed teaching, driving high school students in his bus Caliente Stage Lines and summer school backpacking trips in the High Sierras.
Clyde Gelwick, Football
Clyde Gelwick, who lettered in football and cross country and track, passed away in March of this year at the age of 101, believed to be CU’s oldest letterman at the time of his death. From Dolores, Colo., he attended CU in the early 1930s and was a fullback and halfback on the football team from 1932-34, playing under coach William Saunders.
Clyde was not a big financial donor, but he proudly supported the Buffs in the community, attended every breakfast, lunch, game etc. as long as he possibly could — well in to his 90’s.
We a lost special Buff
Steve Hakes, Football
A two-year starter at offensive guard (left side), he earned two letters under coach Bill Mallory those seasons (1975-76); he likely would have been a three-year starter had he not been lost for almost the entire 1974 season after suffering a knee injury in the second game of the year at Michigan.
He was a first-team All-State performer at Aurora’s Hinkley High School. He was nicknamed “Grimace” because of his unique facial contortions during games and practices.
Many of his teammates will gather for a memorial service before the kickoff events of the Buffs4Life weekend on June 21.
Bob Jeangerard, Basketball
Former basketball player Bob Jeangerard, one of CU’s early stars, passed away on July 5 due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. The longtime resident of San Carlos, Calif., was 81. A month earlier, he had just been announced as one of nine inductees in the 2014 CU Athletic Hall of Fame class.
Jeangerard was a member of CU’s last Final Four team, generally part of CU’s 1-2 punch with Burdie Haldorson of the school’s dominant early 50s teams under coach H.B. Lee. He was a two-time All-Big 7 Conference first-team selection, averaging 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during his collegiate career.
As a senior, he averaged 16 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team in both categories in helping CU win a then-record 19 games in reaching the national semifinals, falling to eventual champion San Francisco. He was the NCAA Tournament Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Considered by many to be a strong team leader, he earned three letters under Lee and was a two-time, first-team All-Big 7 Conference performer. As a senior, he was a member of the CU team that rallied from a 23-point first half road deficit to edge Kansas State; the rally from 23 points down remains to this day a school record. He was second on the team as a junior in scoring (12.8 points per game) and rebounding (6.1), and as a sophomore, his tip-in at the buzzer defeated Oklahoma, 56-55.
After graduation, he was selected as a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic basketball team that competed in the Melbourne Olympics. He was the team’s second-leading scorer when all was said and done, scoring exactly 100 points for a 12.5 average, behind only Bill Russell’s 14.1.
Once back from the Olympics, he served his country as a pilot for the U.S. Air Force and also was a prominent player on the old AAU circuit. After fulfilling his Air Force commitment, Jeangerard moved his family in 1960 to California where he joined his brothers and a friend in opening a tire shop in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gerard Tire grew throughout the area over the next two decades.
The family relocated to San Carlos in 1962, and Jeangerard spent nights and weekends going to law school to become an attorney for the company while remaining one of the owner/managers of the Gerard Tire chain. He retired in 1982.
He was born Robert Eugene Jeangerard on June 20, 1933 in Evanston, Ill., he graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., where he excelled in both studies and sports.
Jim Jochems, Basketball
Jim Jochems (“Yokes”), a three-time letterman in men’s basketball in the late 1950s, passed away on June 7, 2015 as a result of injuries suffered in a car accident the previous day not too far from his home in Longmont. He was surrounded by his family at the time of his passing and had just celebrated his 80th birthday 10 days earlier.
Born James Francis Jochems on May 29, 1935, in Wichita, Kansas, he spent much of his early childhood in rural Kansas and Kansas City until his family moved to Denver. He was a basketball star at East High School, and turned down an opportunity to play basketball at Kansas so he could stay in Colorado and play in Boulder for CU and for coaches H.B. Lee and Sox Walseth.
He appeared in 48 games for the Buffaloes, with modest averages of 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and was sidelined much of his junior year with a knee injury. But his love for the CU program was second-to-none, as he was a long-time season ticket holder in basketball and was a generous donor to the entire athletic program, most recently making a proud gift to CU’s Sustainable Excellence Initiative.
He graduated from CU with a degree in Pharmacy and worked for Parke Davis, then started a successful independent pharmacy medical center in Concord, N.C. He returned to Colorado in the mid-70s and continued working as a pharmacist at Sullivan’s Drug Store and Francis Street Pharmacy in Longmont. During the 1980’s, he worked at various Walgreen’s across the region until he retired in 2005.
In addition to being an avid CU fan, Jim was also a consummate Broncos and Rockies fan.
Ryan Johanningmeier, Football
Former offensive lineman Ryan Johanningmeier passed away March 9; he was 38. One of the most versatile linemen in CU history, he started games at offensive tackle, guard and center in earning four letters from 1996-99. In 1998, he actually started at all three of those positions over the course of the season, and finished up his career as the Buffaloes left guard.
As a senior when he was a team co-captain, he earned first-team All-Big 12 honors from the league coaches and preseason Playboy All-American honors. He was a second-team All-Big 12 selection his junior year. He played in 44 games during his Colorado career, including 35 starts; he even saw time at tight end as a redshirt freshman when injuries at the position forced the coaches to move him there the last half of the season. He was an All-American and All-Colorado performer at Centaurus High School in Louisville.
He was a member of four bowl champion teams in his career: the 1996 Cotton, the 1996 Holiday, the 1998 Aloha and the 1999 Insight.com. He graduated in 2000 with a degree in Business (Management Systems), and was a second-team Academic All-Big 12 team member as a senior.
He signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and spent the 2000 and 2001 season on the payroll with the club. Neck and back injuries cut short a promising professional career, and he had been working in private business in the Denver metro area since his retirement from the game; included during that time was a stint as a spotter for CU football games on KOA-Radio.
He was born January 22, 1977 in Fort Collins, and football was in his blood. Over 200 people, including many former teammates, were in attendance for his memorial at Folsom Field on March 21.
Kyle McIntosh, Track
University of Colorado student-athlete Kyle MacIntosh passed away after a long and courageous fight against cancer on January 29. A hurdler on the track team, he was just 23. He was surrounded by family, friends and teammates since he was admitted to Denver’s Children’s Hospital the day after Christmas when he suffered a brain aneurysm. MacIntosh was first diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in December 2013.
MacIntosh placed videos online detailing his battle, one particular clip starting out with him saying, “Today, I am going to show you how you beat cancer.” That same video ended with MacIntosh saying, “You can wake up and mope and cry that you have to fight cancer or be grateful you have a fighting change. That’s how I live my life every day, you have to… Attitude is everything.” During his treatments, he still regularly worked out on the track, refusing to give in to the deadly disease.
As a member of the CU track team, MacIntosh earned two letters in indoor competition and another twooutdoors. His career got off to a great start in 2010, when he was key contributor on the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relay teams. At the NCAA West Preliminary Championships, the 4×100 relay ran the eighth fastest time in CU history (39.91), the fastest time run by the Buffaloes since 2008. The team placed 12th overall and automatically qualified for the semifinals at the NCAA Championships, where they ran a 40.35 but did not advance to the finals.
His best season with the Buffs was in 2012. During the indoor season, MacIntosh led CU in the 400, recording the top two times. He placed second at the Air Force Team Challenge, crossing the finish in 48.59, and was fifth at the Husky Classic two weeks later (48.70). MacIntosh ran the 400-meter hurdles and the 4×400-meter relay for the Buffs during that outdoor season, racing his personal best time (52.20) at Mt. SAC Relays. At the Pac-12 Championships, MacIntosh advanced to the finals in the 400-hurdles, where he finished sixth in a 52.38 clocking. He also helped the 4×400-relay to a fourth-place finish (3:09.64).
In 2013, the Littleton High School graduate only competed for the Buffs during the indoor season. He competed at three meets, focusing on the 400. He recorded his season-best time of 49.77 at the Tyson Invite. He redshirted the 2013 outdoor season, as he planned to compete outdoors in 2014, but his athletic career was put on hold after the cancer diagnosis.
At Littleton High School, MacIntosh recorded the school record in the 300-meter hurdles (37.58). He won the 2009 state championship in the event with LHS claiming the 5A team championship. During the 2009 indoor season, MacIntosh recorded three top-10 U.S. marks in the 60 hurdles, the 200 and 400. He was an All-State honoree as a junior and senior and was a member of the All-State Academic team and Honor Roll at Littleton.
He was born on July 10, 1991 in Denver. He is survived by his parents, Bill and Nancy MacIntosh, his sister, Kendra Daniel, a brother-in-law, Roger Daniel, two nephews and a niece. He was pursuing a second degree in sociology at CU after receiving a bachelor’s degree in communication in December of 2013.