Photo by Jake McNeill. Jeff Bump’s family (front) and the Marshall girls hockey team gather around the bench remembering Bump outside of the side entrance to Red Baron Arena in Marshall on Wednesday. Bench was a longtime youth hockey coach in the Marshall Area Hockey Association. Bump passed away at age 52 in February 2023.

MARSHALL — Longtime Marshall youth hockey coach Jeff Bump was memorialized outside of Red Baron Arena on Wednesday morning. Funded by a group of donors, a bench was dedicated to Bump outside of the player door to greet those entering the arena.

“Obviously he meant a lot to me and it makes me really happy to see that he meant just as much to everybody else in the Marshall hockey community,” Jeff’s daughter Grace Bump said. “I like to come to the girls games all the time, so now when I come, I can see a part of him still here.”

Jeff Bump died unexpectedly on February 5, 2023, at age 52. He was beloved by the Marshall hockey community for coaching the U10 and U12 girls teams. As a result, the entire Marshall varsity girls team, along with Bump’s friends and family, attended the dedication on the snowy November morning.

Brett Beernaert, Richard Serreyn and Craig Deutz each spoke at the dedication. Beernaert said that it was an area that needed an upgrade and he was excited kids already lined up on the bench getting use out of it a few weeks prior to the dedication.

The bench, made by Bend Rite, is made up of thin black rails for the seat and back with three support legs underneath. On the outside of the outer legs, the bench is engraved, “In honor of Coach Jeff Bump / donated by his friends and hockey family.” on the inside of those legs is the Marshall amateur hockey logo in orange. 

Deutz, who met Bump through a mutual cousin at a young age and played and coached hockey alongside him, presented a heartfelt speech that generated tears from several attendees. 

“I truly believe Jeff’s welcoming spirit helped to increase the enrollment program,” Deutz said. “He was a fun coach and I often heard from players that he was their favorite coach. He wasn’t always their favorite, as he could be tough when he would let the girls know if they did something that he didn’t agree with, but his combination of toughness, tenderness, mixed with making his bond with the players earned just so much respect from his players and fellow coaches.”

The bench will likely see extra activity today as Red Baron Arena will host Marshall’s Thanksgiving Hockey tournament with two varsity and two junior varsity matches on both the boys and girls sides. The girls will take on Hopkins/St. Louis Park at 12:30 p.m. The boys team will take on Irondale for its home opener at 7 p.m.