Former Colorado Rockies President Keli McGregor was eulogized during a memorial service today as a man of enormous physical and spiritual strength who changed people’s lives and, through his leadership, helped reverse the fortunes of a once-moribund baseball franchise.
A Who’s Who of the Front Range sports community, a crowd estimated at 3,000, gathered at Coors Field to grieve and celebrate the life of McGregor, who was found dead at 48 in a Salt Lake City hotel room last Tuesday.
Among the mourners was former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, who read the opening prayer and thanked McGregor, a devoutly religious man, for helping him turn his life around and embrace his role as a husband and father.
Hurdle, now the Texas Rangers’ hitting coach, told the crowd of the moment he heard of McGregor’s passing. He was in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park in Boston and immediately walked out to the famed Green Monster and wept for 30 minutes.
“He was my mentor,” said Hurdle. “He made a difference in my life and I’ll continually praise God for the differences, for the changes my life has taken because Keli McGregor was my friend.
“Thank you for the leadership he gave this organization. He’s still leading us today. He’s leading us to God’s promise of eternal life. … He was the gift that kept on giving.”
The ceremony took place on a stage at home plate, with every Rockies flag in the ballpark swaying in the wind at half-staff. Flower arrangements that had arrived from around the country and throughout the baseball and football worlds were placed in front of the dugouts. There were so many arrangements sent in that the aroma filled the Coors Field concourse Saturday night.
The nearly two-hour ceremony concluded with a message from Taylor McGregor, one of McGregor’s four children, during which she fought through tears to characterize her dad as a “kind, loving and genuinely amazing man” who turned himself into a two-time all-American tight end at Colorado State University while earning a degree in microbiology. She also spoke of her dad’s desire, in the face of failure and criticism, to assemble a Rockies roster made up of men of character and ability who wanted to be part of a team.
She concluded the ceremony by reading a note she wrote to her father in which she said she was “truly thankful for the time that God provided for us here on this Earth.” Moments after she left the stage, a bagpipist played “Amazing Grace” and hundreds of purple and white balloons were released into the sky.
Former CSU football coach Sonny Lubick, who met McGregor in 1982 in the early stages of a football career that would lead McGregor to the fields of the NFL, delivered the eulogy at the family’s request. He talked mostly about McGregor’s personal side, about his marriage to his high school sweetheart, Lori, his days as a Broncomaniac in the South Stands at Mile High Stadium, and his love of ice cream and the Baby Ruth bars and Sugar Daddies candy he routinely stole from his children’s Halloween bags.
Lubick also talked of McGregor’s determination to make the squad after walking on at CSU — a determination that ultimately led to a career with three NFL teams, including the Broncos — and his boundless faith in God, a trait McGregor wore with pride every day.
“We’re a community in shock,” said Lubick. “You were a man of great character, values and faith. To your friends, you were the very essence of compassion and fairness. … Thank you for the way you brightened our lives. We all feel cheated that you were taken from us, but we all should feel grateful for the time we had with you.”
Former Rockies owner Jerry McMorris also spoke, as did Greg Feasel, the Rockies’ executive vice president of business operations who, like McGregor, once played in the NFL. McGregor’s three sisters — Terri, Tammi and Cindi — read verses from the Bible followed by messages from three of the McGregor children, Jordan, Landri and Logan.
Taylor McGregor followed by reading a letter from Lori McGregor in which McGregor’s wife wrote: “My handsome boy, to say my heart is broken doesn’t even come close. We met in high school, the beginning of my sophomore year and his junior year. If you don’t believe in love at first sight, I can tell you it’s real. My life has been an absolute fairy tale for 25 years.”
Hurdle spoke of the difficulties McGregor went through during the Rockies’ dark days, when they routinely finished last or next-to-last in the National League West before making the playoffs in two of the past three seasons, including an appearance in the 2007 World Series.
“He was proud to be a Rockie,” said Hurdle. “Trust me, there were days that it wasn’t cool to be a Rockie. There were days when it wasn’t cool to be a Rockies fan. Keli and I were the first two Rockie nerds. We were all in all the time.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
