Pete Schabarum

January 9, 1929 - August 2, 2021

Pete, a rugged fullback who played in three Rose Bowls under legendary coach Pappy Waldorf at Cal, passed away at the age of 92. He died of natural causes.

Pete was an All-Pacific Coast Conference first-team selection for the Golden Bears in 1950, and was a Cal football letter-winner in 1948, 1949, and 1950. Cal did not lose a single regular-season game in that span, going 29-0-1 in the regular season in 1948 through 1950. However, the Bears lost all three Rose Bowl games they played in that period, losing to Northwestern in the 1949 Rose Bowl, Ohio State in the 1950 Rose Bowl, and Michigan in the 1951 Rose Bowl. On the third play of the 1951 Rose Bowl, Schabarum went around left end for a 73-yard touchdown run that was wiped out because of a penalty. Schabarum was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers with the 17th pick in the 1951 NFL Draft. He played for the Niners for three seasons, while also taking a year off to serve in the Air Force during the Korean War. He also lettered in baseball at Cal.

Schabarum embarked on a political career in 1967 as a member of the California State Assembly before being appointed to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1972 by Governor Ronald Reagan. He was reelected four times and served in that position until 1991 Schabarum was known for his support of term limits, and he authored Proposition 140, which passed in 1990 and imposed term limits on members of the California legislature.

Schabarum has a regional park named after him--Peter F Schabarum Regional Park-- in Rowland Heights, which is in his former supervisorial district. He was named one of the 50 most powerful people in Los Angeles County by Los Angeles Magazine and California Journal named him one of the 30 most influential people in California during the 20th century.

Pete is a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame and earned the distinguished American Award by the NFL Hall of Fame in 1972. He moved to Indian Wells after his retirement with his wife, Gerry who passed away in 2007. They are survived by their three children and four grandchildren.

Jake Curtis, Cal Sports Report, August 5, 2021