#john-beam

#john-beam

Family, friends, former students, local leaders, and the greater Oakland community attended a day of remembrance Saturday for revered Laney College and Skyline High School coach John Beam, who was killed by a former Laney student in November. As the Chronicle reports, around 2,200 people were in attendance at the memorial for longtime coach and mentor John Beam, which took place Saturday at Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts.

More than a thousand people gathered Saturday in Oakland for a celebration of life for Beam, who lost his life last November after being shot. "When I was younger, he was my hero -- strong, driven," said Monica Beam. John Beam's daughters spoke from the heart at their dad's celebration of life.

Beam retired from coaching after last season and remained as the school's athletic director. Beam and I first met more than 30 years ago, and I've sat in that office several times, the one with the wall covered with framed and signed jerseys from the players he coached who went on to play in the NFL. The office is the first one on the left at the top of an open staircase in the school's field house. The door was always open.