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By all accounts, Jerry Fourie was a great person, amazing friend, sensational father and sincere husband.
When he passed on Dec. 16, 2022 at age 69 after a two-year battle with a rare form of leukemia, there was a huge void left in all who knew Jerry.
Being a fun-loving guy with the type of larger-than-life personality, it was no surprise that when his three grown daughters and his wife decided to host a walk for Jerry to celebrate his legacy, they had no problem getting folks involved.
“We have more than 100 people already coming,” Molly (Fourie) Calhoun said.
Molly, along with her sisters Gabrielle and Lauren, and their mother Michelle, wanted the walk to pay tribute to Jerry but also be a good time, something that Jerry would have wanted.
The result — “Jerry’s Miles for Manhattans”.
It will take place on Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Ken Mercer Sports Park in Pleasanton. It is one lap around the entire park (two miles), beginning and ending at the Memorial Rock, a rock where names of people who have pioneered youth sports in town have their names etched.
Fourie will have his name etched on the rock in respect for what he did for the youth of Pleasanton.
It promises to be an emotional day for the family and friends. I know first-hand as my father Harry has his name etched on the rock as well.
It has been a little over two years now since we lost my dad, and we had a celebration at the rock. Standing there and listening to the stories about each of the individuals was something I will never forget.
It made me incredibly thankful for the people that gave so much of their time to make our childhood better.
I know Michelle, Gabriel, Lauren and Molly will have those feelings on the day of the event. There will be a tinge of sadness but mixed in with the blessings of having had their dad/husband helping so many, it will leave a smile on their face.
The family has created a scholarship fund in Jerry’s name with Pleasanton Girls Softball League, an organization he supported for many years.
The Dec. 16 walk will include coffee and donuts and is free as it is paying respect to Jerry. Following the event, which ends at 11 a.m., everyone is welcome to the Hop Yard Ale House where a portion of all beers purchased will go to the scholarship fund.
Given that the Hop Yard was a favorite of Jerry’s, it is the perfect place to wrap up the event. Molly had a great story about the Hop Yard and her dad.
“He was one of the people running the big PGSL tournament that was held each year at the Sports Park,” Molly said. “They had golf carts to go between all the fields where the tournament was being held. At the end of the day when people were trying to find the group we would say, ‘They’re at Field H’. The ‘H’ stood for the Hop Yard, and you would find all the golf carts parked.”
For more information on the event, please go to https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Pleasanton/JerrysMilesforManhattans.
Amador girls’ tennis player wins NCS
For the second consecutive year, Amador Valley tennis player Montana Parkinson-Lubold has brought home the girls’ North Coast Section Division I singles title home to Pleasanton.
The top-seeded Parkinson-Lubold did not lose a match this year. In NCS she started with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Natalie Vale of Vintage, then followed with a 6-0, 6-0 over Shreeya Sharma of American.
In the semifinals she beat Maya Peav of Dublin 6-4, 7-6 (5), and then eliminated Caroline Beard of Montgomery 7-5, 6-1 in the final to win the crown.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
Jerry was a special leader in youth Sports, especially for girls. An incredibly wonderful person!
Blessings and smiles to the family!