William Lovelace

1947 - 2015

William "Bill" Lovelace 1947-2015

Beach legend Bill Lovelace's life was cut much too short on March 29 when he died of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Bill was born in Virginia but brought up in Long Beach where he graduated from Millikan High School in 1965. Bill then attended Long Beach City College where he was a member of Vidar fraternity. He then attended Long Beach State where he played varsity volleyball and graduated with a degree in physical education.

After college Bill did a stint in the Coast Guard where his volleyball skills got him out of much regular duty. Bill then became a PE teacher and coach at the high school and junior college level. He was also a successful realtor and a successful investor.

But Bill's real love was beach volleyball where he organized and played in countless tournaments at local and not so local beaches. He used most of his free time coaching hundreds of kids, many of whom would go on to become star players for their high school and college teams. He just loved to see his players get college scholarships. And he coached them all for free.

According to Bill's good friend Long Beach State Women's volleyball coach Brian Gimmillaro:
"Bill has done more for the promotion of volleyball than anyone in Southern California. He was a player, coach and has produced many of the top beach players in the United States and he never charged a dime."

There is a campaign to raise funds to rename Long Beach State's sand volleyball courts in Bill Lovelace's honor. On the Long Beach State University's Athletic Department's official webpage there is a place to donate to the Bill Lovelace Sand Volleyball Courts. http://www.longbeachstate.com/billlovelace

Bill would have loved nothing more than to know that the Bill Lovelace Sand Volleyball Courts came to fruition.

Bill is survived by his brother and sister in law, Tom and Karen Lovelace. He is also survived by his 97 year old father, Major George Lovelace (USMC retired). But most of all he is survived by all those lucky kids who got to have Bill Lovelace as their coach and all the friends he made in the volleyball community.

If a man is judged by the friends he makes and the friends he keeps, Bill Lovelace died a very wealthy man.

Services will be held on Monday, April 6, 2015 at 2:30pm at Westminster Memorial Park, 14801 Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA (714 ) 893-2421.
Graveside services will be held Tuesday, April 7, at 9:45 AM at Riverside National
Cemetery- Staging Area #4, 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA 92518.

Please sign the guestbook at www.presstelegram.com/obits