January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

"It was the losses to Napoles and the divorce that sent Ernie into a
tailspin," said Ernie's brother Danny "Little Red" Lopez. "He was a hurt
man."Lopez sat in the cluttered office of Dennis Pennington,
program manager for the Presbyterian Night Shelter here, earlier this week.
Although the shelter is closed during the day, Lopez remained inside. Pennington
did not want to lose track of Lopez, who until two weeks ago had been lost track
of for 12 years.After his boxing career ended in 1974, and after his
divorce, Lopez became a wanderer.He would show up to visit his four
children — daughters Cindy, Kami and Tracy and son Lance — every few months. He
would work construction and odd jobs for a while, then he would go
away.In 1992, Lopez came to stay with Cindy in San Bernardino, where he
was visited by his other three children and some of his seven brothers and
sisters. He eventually left, but his pattern had been to call someone in the
family, a child or a sibling, at least once a year.A year, two, three
went by and Lopez never called anyone.Even though she was remarried to
R.H. Iannone, a school superintendent, and living happily in Alta Loma, Marcia
said she never lost her affection for Lopez. Her children, now grown and with
their own families, always ached to have their father in their lives.So
every couple of years, Iannone would contact police, asking for help in tracking
down Lopez. But it isn't the job of detectives to find adults who
wander.As the years passed, his children began to think the
worst."I feared he was dead," said Lance Lopez, 38, who lives in Utah
with his five children.A few months ago, Tracy Hadaway, 35, Lopez's
youngest daughter, saw an item in the Los Angeles Times that mentioned her
father as well as Don Fraser, president of the California Boxing Hall of Fame
and promoter of many of Lopez's fights. Hadaway called Fraser, telling
him about Lopez's disappearance and wondering whether he could help. While he
did not think he could do much to find Lopez, Fraser recalled in an interview
this week, he realized that Lopez belonged in the Hall of
Fame.Determined either to find Lopez or to learn for certain that he was
dead, the children and Iannone made another call to the Los Angeles police. "I
told them there really wasn't much we could do," said Det. Christine Beltran.
"This typically isn't what we consider a missing person. Their father was a man
who went away."But Beltran was also touched by the circumstance. "They
told me about the honor of the Hall of Fame," she said. "It seemed like we
should make an effort."Her checks of arrest and death records turned up
nothing.While Beltran said she could not disclose how she located Lopez,
Iannone said she received a phone call about two weeks ago from the detective.
Beltran said Lopez's Social Security number had come up in association with the
Presbyterian Night Shelter. Iannone called the shelter. Yes, she was
told, Ernie Lopez was there. "Ernie, you've been lost for a long time,"
Iannone told him."I'm not lost," Lopez replied. "I'm right
here."Over the last week, joyous phone calls have been exchanged among
father and children.Fraser has arranged for Lopez to fly to Los Angeles
today. He will be taken shopping for new clothes. About 40 members of his family
will gather, including 23 grandchildren.Lopez is 58 and looks
older. His red hair has turned bright white. He wore a blue stocking cap, a
faded flannel shirt, worn jeans and boots covered with dirt. His eyes were
bright, his smile wide."This is the humblest man I've ever met,"
Pennington said.And Lopez asked five times, "Why are they doing this for
me? I wasn't good enough for the Hall of Fame.""Yes he is," Fraser said.
"Absolutely."Hedgemon Lewis, who fought Lopez three times and lost
twice, called Lopez a ferocious fighter. "He was aggressive and always on the
attack," said Lewis, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. "Ernie
was a crowd-pleaser because he was a fighter. Period. He fought."Ryan
O'Neal, the actor of "Love Story" fame, was Lewis' manager when Lewis fought
Lopez."Lopez was a warrior," O'Neal said. "He was also a gentleman, a