Submitted photo Former Indian Valley High School standout Randy Zook (72) celebrates with teammates at Susquehanna University in 2000.

LEWISTOWN — The late Randy Zook was a lot of things to a lot of folks: son, friend, teammate and coach. More than two decades after his passing from cancer, family and friends find the lovable Zook is just simply “missed” most of all.

“He was a blue-collar kid,” said former youth and high school coach Brian Heckert, who coached Zook in football and basketball. “He came to practice everyday and worked hard and led by example.”

Heckert is one of the organizers for a golf tournament that bears Zook’s name, Randy Zook Scholarship Golf Open, to be held at the Lewistown Country Club, 306 Country Club Road, Lewistown at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 29.

The entry fee for a foursome is $300 or $75 per individual golfer. Fees include the cost of a cart and post-tournament meal. The registration deadline is Friday, July 21. The open will use a shotgun start.

Company sponsors are also still needed for the golf open, which costs $450 and includes a tournament banner as well as four entries to the tournament, as well as company hole sponsors for $125.

Proceeds benefit scholarships from the Randy Zook Trust, which are awarded to graduating male athletes in Mifflin County, who best exemplify the sportsmanship and work ethic that the 6-5, 260-pound Zook was known for during his football career at Indian Valley High School and Division III Susquehanna University.

Zook loved a lot of things about life, but the game of football topped his list.

“You wouldn’t find a kid who was softer and nicer, until you got out on the field,” said his mother, Joann Zook. “He was a totally different person on that field.”

There was something special about football on Friday nights in Mifflin County. Zook could not wait to put on his pads and helmet. On the field was where competition, school spirit and community pride all meshed to create lasting memories.

A two-way lineman at Indian Valley, Zook earned Mountain League honors for his play.

At Susquehanna, Zook became a three-year starter and all-conference first-team pick in each of those seasons. He also garnered plenty of accolades at Susquehanna: team captain; honorable mention All-America honors twice; and 2000 Middle Atlantic Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year by the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Touchdown Club.

Zook had a bad back, and eight seasons of football at Indian Valley and Susquehanna had made pain management a way of life. Ice packs, tape wraps and ultrasounds were part of the game plan each week.

Zook did not truly acknowledge how much pain he had experienced until his football career was over. A month after graduation, he had back surgery. It turned out, though, that the pain had another cause – aggressive colon cancer that had been spreading inside of him, undiagnosed.

Former teammate Ryan Wolfkiel was friends with Zook since the two met during homeroom in sixth grade. They were inseparable, playing football and baseball together. “I have a lot of good memories,” Wolfkiel said. “We spent many late nights during and after college with friends. It wasn’t shocking to wake up and find him on my parents’ couch.”

Zook and Wolfkiel both worked as case workers for Mifflin County Children and Youth and coached football for the Indian Valley Junior High team.

“The kids all loved him, Wolfkiel said.

And Zook loved sharing his knowledge and love for the game with others. He died at age 23, in March 2002.

Zook was inducted into the Susquehanna University Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and the football team’s Most Valuable Player Award is also named after him.

For more information, call (717) 935-2334, (717) 250-8822 or (717) 350-8401 or find the Randy Zook Trust page on Facebook.