A Celebration of the Life of Jeremiah “Scoop” Soifer
By Jim Forbes, Publisher
“There’s going to be a huge void in this community,” Corona resident Connie Newhan reflected, in remembering her near lifelong friend Jerry “Scoop” Soifer, who passed away peacefully in his sleep in April. “He touched so many lives. He was loved and respected, and appreciated. He was an exceptionally valued man and member of our community. And I just hope he knew what he meant to all of us.”
You may not have known Scoop by his sobriquet or given name of Jeremiah, but you’ve quite possibly seen him at work at some community event or sports competition in the tri-cities of Corona, Norco, and Eastvale over the past four-plus decades. And, if you are a reader of this publication, or the predecessor, Corona Independent, or the Riverside Press-Enterprise, and even the Los Angeles Times, you’ve absolutely seen the proceeds of his excellent photography.
“Beyond being a fixture, Jerry was so much more. He was a great sports photographer,” Connie’s husband, Baseball Hall of Fame retired Los Angeles Times sportswriter Ross Newhan added. “If I could think of a word better than great, I would use it. His timing and ability to be in the right place at the right time was extraordinary.”
Soifer was an encyclopedia of the region as speaker after speaker reflected last Friday at a celebration of Soifer’s life at the Corona Public Library. A colorful, well-read, “opinionated” history buff. “I found that sometimes, as a kid, that could be somewhat of a challenge. I now appreciate the moral courage,” nephew Ben Soifer recalled with a soft smile.
But there was unanimity that Scoop best expressed himself through his lens, and he did it as well as most anyone.
Niece Sarah Soifer cited a favorite photo, which she always admired as a child, on display at her grandmother’s, Jerry’s mom’s, home. He had responded to a Corona housefire, “and this big burly fireman (was) on the ground administering oxygen to a kitten…and I loved that photograph as a little girl. It was a deviation of his usual sports coverage, but it was a wonderful moment of humanity.”
While a longtime photographer of the then-Oakland Raiders of the NFL and still contributing pro soccer photos to the Sentinel until his passing, it was local high school sports that defined him. From the time Corona and the newly opened Norco High Schools were alone, travelling deep into the Coachella Valley for games, until now, when area schools are national powers, Soifer covered every school, every sport, both boys and girls.
“No story was too small. Jerry loved writing about the community,” a onetime colleague and local photographer, Stephen Burke related.
As testament, the celebration was filled with former local athletes, some now in their 50s, who came to reminisce and honor the man who captured their youth. Three of the eight Tucker siblings who competed for Corona High in the 70s and 80s vividly remembered with excitement the moments of glory that Soifer had captured.
“He didn’t just take photos, he preserved memories. He froze in time in ways that allowed parents, athletes, coaches, fans to relive their triumphs, their struggles, their victories,” long-time Soifer friend and Corona Chamber of Commerce President Bobby Spiegel shared. “After the final whistle would blow or the scoreboard clock ran out of time, Jerry’s photos would be lifelong memories.”
“I’m 18, Jerry saw something in me,” Gary Evans, a decades-long colleague of Soifer and a weekly contributor to this publication, confided. “It’s our lives that he covered,” Evans added with first-hand experience as they met when Evans was playing soccer at Norco High.
But there was something more that went far beyond the competition of teenage years; the life lesson that Evans recalls verbatim today and delivers in a voice trembling with emotion.
He said, “Whatever you do in life, sports, softball, soccer, photography, writing…do it like it’s the last time you’ll do it. So, if you don’t get the chance to do it again, you won’t feel cheated.”
From the anecdotes shared, Scoop Soifer never cheated himself, approaching every shoot with gusto and passion.
Remembering and honoring Scoop in closing the May 7 Corona City Council meeting, retired Corona Fire Captain and current Mayor Jim Steiner, recalled how often Scoop would frequently injure himself while working to get ‘the perfect shot.’ One time, it especially stands out in his memory.
Scoop called the station house and said, “Hey, I got gored by a bull the other day. Can I stop by? Can you guys help me out?” Huh?!
He was covering the Norco Rodeo, and decided it was time for Mr. Bull’s close-up.
“And the bull wasn’t having any of this, so he gored Jerry,” Steiner conveyed to the city council and attendees, to amused laughter in the background. The bull “gored the camera and smashed his face pretty bad.”
While his face and his work were woven deep into the tapestry of the community, the diminutive, mustachioed, sartorially challenged Jerry “Scoop” Soifer understood, as any fine journalist should, that he was not the story. He never turned the figurative lens on himself.
But that’s not to say he went unnoticed. Ironically, he was a legend with the notoriously rowdy, crazed fans of Raiders Nation. Mayor Steiner was one of several celebrants who gloried in the times Scoop asked them to assist during Raider games, bestowing the opportunity to walk the sidelines of an NFL game.
Steiner recalled the first trip to Oakland. “And the fans were screaming the entire time as we’d walk by, “Scoop, Scoop, and I’m like, this guy is kinda a dork back home, but he’s a freakin’ legend in Raider Nation. But he’s also a legend in Corona.”
Jeremiah’s family. Scoop’s friends. Jerry’s community. The countless thousands who have been photographed. This newspaper. We have all lost a legend.
We defer to Hall of Fame writer Ross Newhan. “He was one of a kind. A friend and definite fixture who will be missed. Rest in Peace, Jerry.”
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