By Tim Peterson
(La Canada) – St. Francis head football coach Jim Bonds passed away early Wednesday morning at the age of 51 after a long battle with cancer.
Bonds starred at quarterback for Hart High School and led the team to a CIF championship in 1986 and then went on to play at UCLA.
Bonds was the head coach at Alemany for three years before taking over at St. Francis in 2000 where he coached for the next 20 years including the most recent campaign in 2019.
Bonds led the Golden Knights to the CIF Division title game in 2017 where they fell to Rancho Verde on a last second field goal.
St. Francis reached the playoffs 16 times during Bonds reign which included five semi final appearances and the one CIF championship appearance. He won over 130 games during the 20 year run.
Bonds was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the spring of 2018 but began receiving treatment and was able to battle though the disease and return to the sidelines for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Bonds is survived by his wife Tricia and two children.
Condolences to his family. Lost a good man and Bruin today.
As a high school football fan in the Crescenta Valley, I appreciated Coach Bonds St Francis teams over the years. Always played with sportsmanship. May God bless Coach Bonds and help his family and the Golden Knight family through this difficult time.
What a Coach.
Monrovia fulfilled a couple of home/home contracts with St. Francis in the not-so-distant past. To this day I don’t believe I have been more impressed with a football program from top to bottom, as I was with Coach Bonds’ squads. The bearing, effort and understanding of his players was a pleasure to witness – a clear indication of who he was, to the young people in his charge.
May he rest in peace.
I don’t know anybody who ever had a bad thing to say about this man. He was a pillar of the high school football coaching community. May he rest in peace, and may the character he showed live forever.
May God help Coach Bonds family through this. As a high school football fan that lives in the St Francis area, I appreciate his sportsmanship and class of his teams. He will be missed.
I give my condolences to Coach Bonds’ family, his friends, and all the athletes whose lives he has influenced.
WOW sad news my prayer are with his family.
Rest In Peace Coach Bonds
Rest In Paradise sir. You’ve impacted many lives your memory will live on.