He was one tough son-of-a-gun, Cal Gilbert. But a loving one too.
Especially when it came to kids. And he'd have loved to have been here
tonight for this 'Backyard Brawl".
But he's not.

Almost 16 years ago, the man who cared enough to spend his last nickel
to get kids offf the streets and into an amateur boxing ring was
killed by a speeding driver on September 15, 1983 while working at
night on the Narrows Bridge.

Gilbert's tragic death at 59 nearly spelled the end of the Olympic
Boxing Academy.

Tonight, bow your head for a moment's silence while a 10-count is
rung by the ringside bell in the memory of Gilbert, whose presence
hangs over this festive evening here at the Kitsap Pavilion.

Gilbert was born to a rough 'n tough Montana family that
included 13 children, and as a youngster boxed Golden Glove
Tournaments and in the service as "Dusty Gilbert".
He served in World War II with the United States 82nd Airborne,
parachuting into France during Normandy, eventually winding up
in the historic Battle of the Bulge, the last gasp attack by the
soon-to-be defeated Nazi Germany.

"They called their unit 'The Battered Bastards of Bastogne'," said
wife Virginia, who continues to live in Bremerton. One last
souvenir Gilbert carried with him to his unexpected death were
bullet fragments in his head. "He was shot in the head behind
the right ear and it went through his tongue, broke his jaw,
busted out his teeth and came out his mouth," said grandson Joey Dean,
who at one time fought for the boxing academy.
While recovering in
the hospital, Gilbert fought to return to action and be with his
service buddies, which he did until the end of the war.

The French, Dutch, Belgians and his own country decorated
Gilbert for battle heroism.
While headaches caused by the bullet were his life-long companions,
they did not stop Gilbert from serving his community.

"He used to pick up all the kids around who couldn't get a ride
to the gym," said Joey Dean. "And when the Kitsap Sheriff's Dep't
dropped sponsorship of the academy and my dad (Jack) dropped into
the background and (boxing coach) Joe Clough left for Thailand,
my grandfather got the sponsorship of the Albert C. Kean American
Legion Post 149 and continued the Academy."

At the time of his death, Archie Ruffin, the academy's heavyweight
contender, said this: "I still don't believe it. He was the reason I
stayed in Bremerton after I got out of the service."

With Gilbert gone, Ruffin would soon depart for the east coast,
never to return.

Another one of his boxers at the time, Mike Smith, had just graduated
from Bremerton High School. He was devastated by his mentor's death,
and said at the time: "It hurts. I was so close to him. Cal was more
than a coach to me. He was the closest man I ever had in my life.
I never really had a dad."

Jack Dean was married to Gilbert's daughter, but said his father-in-law
was more like a dad to him. "I admired him because he boxed a little
in the army and was just a tough guy." Dean said. And when Gilbert
wanted to help coach, no argument to the contrary by Dean had any effect
on Gilbert. He was going to coach come hell or high water.

"He wouldn't listen to me and kept coming back to the gym," Dean said.
"And he did so well with the kids on a personal level. He would drive
clear to Tacoma before practice and pick up (boxer) Roger McCane and
then take him back home. He'd just do things nobody else would do.
That was his strength, being close to the kids and their personal life.
He'd take money out of his pocket when they got in trouble. Some took
advantage of it, too. But that was what it was all about, caring.
This boxing thing turned out to be the love of his life. It was a
relatively short coaching career, but in that short time he sure did a
good job."

Virginia Gilbert still lives in the house they shared together.
"I still miss him very much, yet," Virginia said. "He had no fear.
He was quite a man. When I have trouble with my home, I'll say to myself
'Cal, where are you? How do you do this? I need you here to show me
how to do it.'"

Gilbert's smile, his generosity and his loyalty to area kids is something
the local boxing community sorely misses. If he could be here tonight,
that smile would light up the pavilion, his firm handshake would
warm the soul.

By Terry Mosher Editor, Sports Paper