A funeral Mass for longtime USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux, who died Jan. 5 at age 91, will be celebrated Jan. 16, 9:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles.
From 1942 to 1986, Dedeaux's Trojan baseball teams won 11 NCAA baseball championships, including five straight (1970-1974), and a record 1,331 games. During his tenure, Dedeaux coached some of baseball's greatest stars --- among them, pitchers Tom Seaver and Randy Johnson and sluggers Mark McGwire, Fred Lynn and Dave Kingman.
He earned numerous accolades from the game, including "Coach of the Century" in 1999 from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball magazines, and a place in the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Known as an avid ambassador for the sport, Dedeaux promoted baseball's inclusion in the Olympics, and was rewarded when the Los Angeles Olympics featured baseball as part of its "demonstration" lineup in 1984. Appropriately, Dedeaux was named U.S. coach for the team, which included future major league stars McGwire and Will Clark, among others, and won an "unofficial" silver medal.
A native of New Orleans, Dedeaux grew up in Los Angeles and was an All-City shortstop at Hollywood High School, a three-year starter for USC and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935. A back injury cut short his playing career after two major league games, and he went into business as a freight hauler; the business grew into Dart Transportation, a worldwide, multi-million-dollar company based in Commerce.
Although his business became a huge success, Dedeaux took his baseball seriously, but not so much that he couldn't enjoy the game, and he transferred that attitude of dedication and fun to his players. Blessed with an engaging personality and lively sense of humor, he was also well-known as a speaker at various dinners and charity events, especially when fellow baseball ambassador and close friend Tommy Lasorda was close at hand. The pair's repartee (Lasorda was the honoree, Dedeaux the presenter) drew huge laughter at the 1997 Support Our Aging Religious benefit dinner in Beverly Hills.
Dedeaux's survivors include his wife Helen, sons Justin and Terry, daughters Michele and Denise, and nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Rod Dedeaux Foundation for amateur athletics, 1430 S. Eastman Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90023. ---Mike Nelson |