Angel Stadium to Host Public Memorial for Baseball Coach and Family Who Died in Helicopter Crash

02/06/2020

A public memorial will be held next week for three members of the Altobelli family who were killed in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash that also took the lives of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and four others.

The service for baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa Altobelli is scheduled for Feb. 10 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, John’s brother Tony Altobelli announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“Needless to say… there will be plenty of room so if you’d like to be a part of this, we’d love to have you!” he said in the posting.

Along with Alyssa, their daughter Alexis Altobelli and son J.J. Altobelli, John and Keri were known as the “first family” of Orange Coast College. John had coached baseball at the school for 27 years.

“[They were] the First Family of OCC,” the school’s acting head baseball coach, Nate Johnson, told the Orange County Register of John, 56, Keri, 46, and Alyssa, 13.

“All three of [John’s] kids grew up here,” he added.

Over his nearly three decades at the helm of Orange Coast’s baseball team, John remained steadfastly dedicated to his players, and worked constantly to raise funds for their scholarships, Orange Coast College Foundation Executive Director Douglas Bennett told the Register.

“He was a perfectionist and he demanded a lot of his kids,” he said of John. “But also he really cared about them. He worked to build them up as young men.”

Added Tony Altobelli in an interview with PEOPLE: “You want to live how my brother did, he was straight and narrow, he worked hard and he earned the respect of everybody who ever knew him and he left a legacy that will go way beyond his time spent in Orange Coast. … I don’t know how you can not want to live a life like that.”

College Baseball Coach John Altobelli, His Wife and Daughter Dead in Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash

Alyssa and Gianna were teammates at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy.

Their helicopter was headed to a basketball tournament at the academy’s Thousands Oaks location before it went down in foggy conditions on the morning of Jan. 26. Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, her daughter Payton Chester and pilot Ara Zobayan also died in the accident.

Bryant previously shared that he began using helicopters while he still played for the Los Angeles Lakers as a way to spend less time stuck in traffic and more time with his family.

If you would like to help the families of the victims of the crash, consider donating to the Mamba on Three Fund. Contributions to the Mamba Sports Foundation will help support youth sports.


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