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Jeff
Doll Memorial Team Tournament
Pat
Young, Delta Region Team Director, is proud to announce the "Jeff
Doll Memorial" team tournament to be held on June 7, 2003 at
Big Break Marina in Oakley, CA. Jeff passed away from ALS on Feb.23,
2003.
Jeff
Doll, a boilermaker by trade, was a man who loved to bass fish.
Like many of us, he started fishing at the club level. The Bass
Classics of Santa Clara Valley provided his first introduction to
tournament fishing in Feb. '85 when a cousin invited Jeff to fish
a New Melones event. He drew "Big George" Hawley and won
the tournament out of the back seat. Jeff moved up to draw tournaments
as a non-boater/amateur and did well. He placed 6th at a West Coast
Pro-Am at Mead and 4th at the RedMan at Oroville in '89. Jeff went
on to qualify for the '96 West Coast Bass Classic and the '97 RedMan
Regional.
Starting
with an industrial accident in 1998, health problems quickly curtailed
Jeff's fishing career. He cut some tendons in his right hand and
then was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Subsequent surgeries
on his arms and hands made it impossible to pursue tournament fishing
and even recreational angling was hard to do. In April 2002, Jeff
received the devastating news that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
(ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. This neurological disorder
is untreatable and generally terminal. With his family and friends
by his side, Jeff lost his battle with ALS on Feb.23rd. Before his
death, Jeff had gotten involved with the ALS Foundation and arranged
to have his body donated to UC San Francisco for ALS research. He
was more prepared and accepting of his fate than most of us will
ever be and passed without fear.
Jeff
leaves behind his loving wife of 19 years, Terry, and two daughters,
Nicolle and Melissa. To add to an already overwhelming time in their
lives, Jeff's family was involved in an injury accident only two
days after the memorial services and required hospital treatment
for broken ribs and lacerations.
The
tournament will be a no-points, no membership required open event
run by WONBASS for the purpose of generating a fund to be donated
to the Doll family. At this time, the regular entry fees and options
will be charged for participation in this event, with a portion
of the entries going to the family. We're working on having a raffle
and Bar-B-Que in conjunction with the tournament and would like
to see a huge turnout for this event.
For
WONBASS members or the public who would like to make a donation
to this worthy cause, they can send checks to: "Jeff Doll Memorial
Fund, Bank of the West, 8157 Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, CA 94513.
Account # 173271198
For
more updated information, check the www.wonbass.com web page in
the forum section or contact Pat Young at (925)-625-3129 or e-mail
pjfy50@earthlink.net.
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