PCC Mourns Loss of Beloved Alumnus Ray Bartlett
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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Posted by: Irene Aguilera
Ray Bartlett, a four-sport star and teammate of Jackie Robinson at Pasadena Junior College from 1937-39, passed away Sunday. He was 88.
Bartlett was a pioneering member of the Pasadena City College Foundation Board, where he served for more than 20 years. A bronze bust of his likeness is immortalized in PCC's Court of Champions, a pantheon that includes busts for 16 of the college's most famous athletic alumni. Bartlett also is a member of both the PCC Sports Hall of Fame and the California Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Bartlett is best known for his long friendship with the Robinson family as he lettered in football, baseball, basketball (see photo above) and track and field with Jackie Robinson at both PJC and then UCLA. Bartlett and Robinson were Pasadena's first All-American and All-Southern California selections in football in 1938. The pair led the '38 PJC Bulldogs to the state championship with a perfect 11-0 season.
At UCLA, the duo joined Kenny Washington and Woody Strode (later a film actor) as the only four black players on the 1939 Bruins' football team during a period where few university teams even carried African-Americans on their gridiron rosters.
In 1999, Bartlett was honored to represent his friend Jackie (died in 1972) as the Grand Marshal at the Tournament of Roses Parade. Also that year, Bartlett was chosen as one of PCC's 75 Distinguished Alumni during the college's 75th anniversary celebration.
After his athletic achievements in college, Bartlett served in the military during World War II, then spent a distinguished 20-year career in the Pasadena Police Department. He later worked for more than 10 years for the County of Los Angeles, including a six-year stint as deputy for County Supervisor Warren Dorn. A long-time resident of Monrovia, Bartlett would eventually see his son Robert become mayor of that city.
Funeral services for Bartlett will take place this Saturday, June 28 at First African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 1700 N. Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. Services begin at 10 a.m.
Donations in memory of Ray Bartlett can be made to the Pasadena City College Foundation.
For more information on Ray Bartlett, click on the link below:
http://www.pasadena.edu/about/history/alumni/bartlett/bartlett1.cfm
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