Pat Peacock was hailed as the QB of the SOS football campaign.

His role in the mission to ‘Save our Stamps’ in the 1980s is one Calgary sports fan should pay tribute to, as friends and family honor the proud pigskin fan Sunday with a memorial at the Red and White Club (2 p.m.).

Peacock died December 4 after battling two rare diseases that affect the lungs. He is 79 years old.

“He’s a really solid guy,” said good friend Steve Allan. “Fun, gregarious… he has lots of friends.

“What a great man – a storyteller, smart as a whip and also highly respected.”

Peacock is widely respected for his efforts to help save the city’s Canadian Football League club when the community’s holdings struggled to make ends meet nearly 40 years ago.

“That was a big deal in 1986, when the Stamps fell,” Allan said. “It was the SOS — Save Our Stamps campaign. The Flames were the new game in town, and their popularity was eating away at Stampeders’ ticket sales. And ticket sales fell below maybe 10,000.”

Bids were made by Stamps legend Gerry Shaw and city businessman Doug Hunter to buy the club’s contingent at the city’s request to cover the lease on McMahon Stadium.

“The city couldn’t figure out how they could do that because McMahon is owned by the university,” said Allan. “So when the bid fell through, I turned on the radio the next morning, and it was, ‘The Stampeders are done. But people are calling into a show saying, ‘Let’s get on with this. Surely, we can get enough people together and sell enough tickets to get the club back on its feet.’”

That’s when Peacock stepped in to spearhead a last-minute trip, with pro bono professional support from bankruptcy accountant Allan and other close high school friends in Bankruptcy attorney Quincy Smith.

“The community really came together, and Pat was the quarterback for that whole process,” Allan continued. “The goal was 18,000 tickets, and we got it there (to 22,400 leading up to an 11-win season in 1987). With constant communication, he managed to cross the goal line.”

The Calgary-born Peacock had a long, “brilliant” and illustrious legal career after graduating in the Class of 1967 – with a silver medal award – from law school at the University of Alberta.

He went on to serve the Canadian Bar Association with honors, chairing many committees and serving as president of the Alberta chapter from 1983-84 and national president from 1988-89 at a relatively young age. His many legal recognitions include being appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1984 and being a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Through it all, he was an avid football fan, taking on various roles with the Stampeders starting in 1973, including the challenging position of chairman of the board in 1985-86 during that difficult financial time.

“His widow, Virginia, told me, ‘One of the most important things in Pat’s life is leading the Stampeders football club,’” says Allan. “And he was also the deputy chairman of the CFL at the time.

“So he plans to wear his presidential pin at the memorial.”

Peacock, a father of four and grandfather of seven, was also “a natural musician.” He played piano and “bass fiddle that’s arguably as big as him” for a group called Tungsten Trio Plus One – a departure from the Kingston Trio with their folk songs.

But his fever for football – he played the game in high school – was at the forefront of saluting him on Sunday.

“Pat Peacock combined the unbridled passion of a fan with the keen skills of an administrator, and for that, the Calgary Stampeders will be eternally grateful,” added Stamps President John Hufnagel in a public letter. “This team wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for him.

“I send my deepest condolences to his family. It is also a loss to the Calgary community, his legal partners, his legions of friends and the Calgary Stampeders Football Club.”

SHORT YARDAGES

The Stamps hold their annual Red and White game on Saturday at McMahon Stadium. “Great competition, great day, good crowd – they were pretty loud,” said Stamps GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “The national anthem was sung quite well, in my opinion. I think people enjoyed it, and we got a lot of things too.” … For the coach, player takeaways from the day included QB Logan Bonner and several pass catchers, most notably Canadian Tyson Middlemost after he caught the ball in streaks for long receiving. “The middle ones are the ones that stand out,” says Dickenson. “I know we have the receiver.” … Stamps are back in training starting Monday with a single day of practice until Thursday’s second and final preseason slope against the home BC Lions in Vancouver (8:30 p.m., News Talk 770).