Former coach Jack Pardee led UH during the Run-And-Shoot era, during which, the Cougars set offensive records and quarterback Andre Ware won the Heisman trophy in 1990. | 1990 Houstonian

After a lengthy battle with cancer, legendary former UH football head coach Jack Pardee died Monday at 76.

Pardee was diagnosed with terminal gall bladder cancer in November.

Head coach Tony Levine said Pardee was a special person and coach for the University.

“I just found out about that coming off the field a few minutes ago. It’s extremely sad news,” Levine said. “Again, when you talk about the University of Houston, coach Pardee is a name that comes right to the forefront of everybody’s mind. His family is very close and his extended family is very close to our program.”

UH announced the Pardee Family has established the Jack Pardee Memorial Scholarship Fund with the Athletics Department, which will be awarded to a walk-on from the program each season.

“He truly loved the time spent at the University of Houston and wanted to find a way to help a deserving, hardworking, dedicated athlete who might not have the means to pay for their own college tuition,” said Pardee’s youngest son, Ted, in a press release. “He could have offered his name to a lot of different charities or scholarship funds, but this was what my dad wanted to do. I hope you will join our family in support of this worthy fund.”

Pardee served as head coach for the Cougars from 1987 to ’89. He became the first coach in NCAA history to produce an African American who won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback in Andre Ware. In a game versus SMU, Pardees’ Cougars became the first major NCAA team to produce more than 1,000 yards in offense in a 95-21 victory.

Pardee and his family moved to Texas when he was young. He excelled as a member of the six-man football team in Christoval.

Pardee was a stand-out linebacker at Texas A&M from 1954 to ’56 and was drafted as the 14th overall draft pick in the 1957 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

His sickness began when he was diagnosed with melanoma, forcing him to sit out a year, but he was able to play for seven more seasons. Pardee finished his playing career with the Washington Redskins in 1973.

Pardee was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.

After his playing career, Pardee coached in college and the NFL.

Pardee coached the Florida Blazers in the World Football League — a league that started in 1974. He transitioned into the NFL to serve as head coach for the Chicago Bears from 1975 to ’77 and the Washington Redskins from ’78 to ’80, and he was defensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers in 1981.

Pardee returned to his home state to coach for the Houston Gamblers in the United States Football League from 1990 to ’94.

After the USFL was discontinued, he switched his focus toward UH.

Ted said Jack Pardee was a loving father.

“My dad was committed to football, but he was always close to his family,” Ted said to the Houston Chronicle. “He had a lot of love to give. He was a sweet guy who was never afraid to give us a hug and kiss. He fought a tough battle, and we’re going to miss him.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Andre Ware was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. He was the first African American quarterback to win the Heisman. 

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Gaynelle Griffin Jones died at her home in Houston after battling cancer for several years, said her daughter, Athena Jones.

“She was very impressible and energetic,” said Jones, a correspondent for CNN. “She loved to work on new projects and travel, from building gingerbread houses with her grandson to planning trips to Egypt, Ghana and South Africa.”

Born Nov. 20, 1948 in Dallas, Griffin was the second child of Marvin and Lois Griffin. She graduated from A. J. Moore High School in Waco. She received a scholarship to Emerson College in Boston and earned a degree in history. She then received a full scholarship to attend Boston College Law School, where her 40-year legal career began.

Griffin was appointed by the Texas governor to serve on the First Court of Appeals. Former President Bill Clinton named her United States Attorney for the Southern District in Texas in 1993, making her the first African-American woman appointed to the position.

Griffin taught trial advocacy at the UH Law Center and contributed legal services to the poor, criminal law, corporate law and private practices in Louisiana, Massachusetts and Texas.

Griffin loved to stay involved and volunteer her service, Jones said.

She was a senior fellow as the Center for Houston’s Future and the American Leadership Forum, and she served on the board of the Houston Area Women’s Center; the Phoenix House of Texas, a teenage drug treatment program; and Cate School.

She was devoted to church since she was 7-years-old and was a member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, where she was a deaconess who mentored teenage girls and taught discipleship training.

Jones received many awards and honors for her achievements, including the Sarah Hughes Outstanding Achievement Award from the State Bar of Texas Women’s Section, the Bessie Coleman Trailblazer Award and the Star of Achievement Award.

She was active in the Houston Bar Association as co-chair of the minority opportunities committee and was a frequent lecturer at professional seminars and programs.

The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Wheeler Avenue Baptist. Final arrangements will be entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home.

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Berger was a part of the department for 40 years before retiring in 2009.

UH School of Theatre & Dance director Steve Wallace said Berger will be hard to replace.

“It is next to impossible to encapsulate Sidney Berger’s life in Houston into a few sentences. Creator, Director, Visionary, Chair, Teacher, Friend, Colleague, Passionate Shakespeare Lover, A Giant in Educational Theatre World – are all words that come to mind,” Wallace said.

He took over as director in 1969 when the School of Theatre and Dance was a small drama department. During his tenure, the small department grew into a nationally-recognized theater program.

Since 1975, Berger was a driving force behind the Houston Shakespeare Festival, which led Mayor Annise Parker to proclaim Aug. 6 as “Dr. Sidney Berger Day.”

Many stage professionals, including Hollywood actors Dennis Quaid and Jim Parsons, have come through his department.

Berger is a past recipient of the Ruth Denney Award from Theater Under the Stars, which honors stage professionals who shape young artists’ lives. In 2007, Berger was honored by U.S. Rep. Gene Green with a Congressional Record Plaque.

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Michael Lucas Gibson, a former graduate professor for the College of Technology and chair for Information and Logistics Technology Department, died Jan. 5.The College of Technology hired Gibson in 2002, teaching graduate-level courses in project management, database management and information systems.

He was a strong advocate for accreditation for UH programs, said Fred Lewallen, associate dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Technology.“He had wanted us to take a leadership role as far as the nation was concerned, as the Houston area was concerned. There is a project management institute, which has a group that works with project managers and certify people to work in the project management area,” Lewallen said.

“It’s a very important certification, and nationwide if you’re looking for a job, that probably means quite a bit. He is responsible for bringing that. He is the person that pushed that to get here.”

Lewallen worked with Gibson when the latter came to UH, but started working with him more frequently when Gibson became chair for ILTD.

Former Unipresser Joan Duffy died of leukemia Friday in Little Rock, Ark., according to upi.com.

“I found my life, my career, my best, lifelong friends at the Daily Cougar,” Duffy said in 2009 to The Daily Cougar.

“And it happened because my application landed face up on the newsroom floor. The Fall 1970 editor Richard Stewart and sports editor Steve Pate bought a six-pack of beer for an evening of scrutinizing applications for the coming semester. There may have been more than one six-pack. They ended up throwing the apps up in the air those whose apps landed face up were invited to try out for reporter positions.”

Duffy later became a journalist and editor in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La., according to upi.com. She is survived by a son, two step-daughters and three grandchildren.

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Charles Bishop served as UH System president from February 1980 to September 1986. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar

UH System President Emeritus Charles Bishop died Jan. 14 in Durham, N.C.

The 80-year-old served as president from February 1980 to September 1986, when he left to pursue a job teaching business and economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an event which The Daily Cougar reported on June 11, 1986.

Upon his retirement in 1986, The Daily Cougar reported his accomplishments as president, which include the following:

The UH System became the third-largest research university in Texas, behind University of Texas and Texas A&M.

The market value of the University’s endowment grew to $57 million from $21.6 million in 1979.

M.D. Anderson Library was ranked as No. 50 in the top research libraries in the country, as opposed to being 81st in 1980 when he was hired.

The UH System’s financial management operations received the highest rating given to education institutions by the state auditor, for five years in a row.

A World War II veteran, Bishop served on numerous commissions under former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.

He also served on commissions at the state level in North Carolina, said his newsobserver.com obituary.

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