University of Memphis Athletics
First Memphis Men’s Soccer Head Coach Pete Bermel Passes Away
Jan 05, 2022 | Men's Soccer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis Athletics is saddened to learn of the passing of Pete Bermel, the first men's soccer head coach in school history. Bermel was 81 years old.
"Coach Bermel started this program back when it was Memphis State University and gave it such a strong foundation that we are still using today," current Tiger head coach Richard Mulrooney said. "I remember my father taking me over to Echles Field when MSU played in the 80s, and that was my first memory of college soccer and when I was introduced to MSU in person.
"I am forever grateful for the program he started, and I hope to continue running the program in the same positive way Coach Bermel did. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family."
Bermel began the Tiger program in 1982 and coached for six seasons through the 1987 campaign. He amassed a 61-48-14 record during the time, laying the program's groundwork for its next four decades.
Born June 12, 1940, Bermel emigrated from the Netherlands in the 1960s, and his well-lived life included driving Formula Ford racecars at Silverstone in England during the 1970s, forming the Tiger soccer team in the 1980s, captaining a 45-foot-long 1969 Hatteras charter fishing vessel in Destin, Fla., during the 1990s and cruising the Caribbean in a sailboat with his wife in the 2000s.
His family's business of hairdressing afforded him the opportunity to respond to a Texas advertisement requesting European hairdressers to come to America. He soon moved to Memphis, and his brothers and sisters started to join him and created the locally-renowned Bermels Hair Salon near Poplar Avenue and Humes Street. Together, their work gave countless people the confidence to face the world.
He is survived by all of his sons, Jeff Norton, Erich Bermel and Andrew Bermel; his wife, Clare Ozenovich Bermel; his brothers, Jozef, Frank, Peter, Hans, Heinz and Gerard; his sisters, Rina, Marga, Maria, and Annamarie; and their many children and grandchildren.
For more information and to leave condolences and read Bermel's obituary, visit https://www.canalefuneraldirectors.com/obituaries/Augustines-Bermel.
How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Soccer, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
"Coach Bermel started this program back when it was Memphis State University and gave it such a strong foundation that we are still using today," current Tiger head coach Richard Mulrooney said. "I remember my father taking me over to Echles Field when MSU played in the 80s, and that was my first memory of college soccer and when I was introduced to MSU in person.
"I am forever grateful for the program he started, and I hope to continue running the program in the same positive way Coach Bermel did. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family."
Bermel began the Tiger program in 1982 and coached for six seasons through the 1987 campaign. He amassed a 61-48-14 record during the time, laying the program's groundwork for its next four decades.
Born June 12, 1940, Bermel emigrated from the Netherlands in the 1960s, and his well-lived life included driving Formula Ford racecars at Silverstone in England during the 1970s, forming the Tiger soccer team in the 1980s, captaining a 45-foot-long 1969 Hatteras charter fishing vessel in Destin, Fla., during the 1990s and cruising the Caribbean in a sailboat with his wife in the 2000s.
His family's business of hairdressing afforded him the opportunity to respond to a Texas advertisement requesting European hairdressers to come to America. He soon moved to Memphis, and his brothers and sisters started to join him and created the locally-renowned Bermels Hair Salon near Poplar Avenue and Humes Street. Together, their work gave countless people the confidence to face the world.
He is survived by all of his sons, Jeff Norton, Erich Bermel and Andrew Bermel; his wife, Clare Ozenovich Bermel; his brothers, Jozef, Frank, Peter, Hans, Heinz and Gerard; his sisters, Rina, Marga, Maria, and Annamarie; and their many children and grandchildren.
For more information and to leave condolences and read Bermel's obituary, visit https://www.canalefuneraldirectors.com/obituaries/Augustines-Bermel.
How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Soccer, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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