Obituary: Dick Bergquist, Record-Setting Baseball Coach

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Richard (Dick) Bergquist died Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019 at home in Amherst.

Bergquist, who was the head baseball coach for the university from 1967-87, was 86 years old. He retired as the winningest coach in the history of UMass baseball, with a record of 392-321-5. During his tenure, his ball clubs captured seven Yankee Conference championships, two New England championships, one Atlantic 10 Conference championship and a fifth-place finish at the 1969 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Born in 1932 and raised in Orange, Massachusetts, Bergquist graduated from Orange High School in 1950 and initially enrolled at Bates College, where he earned one letter apiece in football and baseball. After a two-year tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he entered the University of Massachusetts. For two years, he was a fullback on the football team and pitcher on the baseball team, graduating cum laude from UMass in 1957 with a degree in physical education. Bergquist was part of the 1957 baseball team, which won the Yankee Conference title under head coach Earl Lorden.

He went on to receive a master's degree from the University of Maryland and embarked on a brief public school teaching career. He returned to UMass in 1959 to serve as an assistant under Lorden and head coach of the freshman baseball team, a post he held for seven years until taking the reins of the varsity team when Lorden retired ahead of the 1967 season.

In 1991, his jersey number was retired and the bleachers at Earl Lorden Field were officially dedicated in his name.

Bergquist served four years as a faculty member of the Sport Management department upon his departure from coaching, before officially retiring from the University in 1991. He also spent four years as the Executive Director of the American Baseball Coaches Association before retiring in 1994.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 65 years, Sonya, four children, Andrea, Carl, Craig, and Erica.

Calling hours will take place on Sun., March 3 from 2-5 p.m. at the Douglass Funeral Home, located at 87 North Pleasant Street in Amherst. A funeral service will be held on Mon., March 4 at 11 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 867 North Pleasant Street, Amherst.