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Coach Vince Dooley Memorial
Design Mart & Keystone Alumni Collaborate On Memorial Tribute To Legendary Coach Vince Dooley
Keystone Memorials of Elberton, Georgia, has constructed many granite projects on the University of Georgia campus including walls, an Olympic Memorial, an Alumni Memorial, bases for statues, several signs, and the popular statue of UGA's famous bulldog mascot located in Sanford Stadium. UGA alumnus Tom Oglesby and sons George and Ross, also UGA alumni, have collaborated on several projects with Design Mart in the past. Joe and Mike Fernandez, both UGA alumni, were glad to help with a design for a memorial to legendary UGA Coach Vince Dooley.
The design went through about 20 sketches and revisions before landing on the final concept, and some of those are shown here. After preliminary sketches by Joe, Mike presented different options for polished surfaces on the black monument. In the end, the Dooley name would be the only polished black surface. In addition, the family decided to change from acanthus shown at the tops of the columns in the original sketch (shown below) to a Bible, the UGA logo, the UGA arch, and a flower to represent the Dooleys' love of gardening (as shown in the final monument photos). Ross also worked with the family to revise the design to include crosses on the front and back of the monument.
After the monument was set, Mike and his parents, Joe and Katherine, visited Oconee Hill Cemetery behind Sanford Stadium. Shown below: Joe Fernandez (UGA '68), and his son Mike Fernandez (UGA '87).
To visit the memorial in Bulldog Haven, enter Oconee Hill Cemetery behind Sanford Stadium, take a left, cross the river, then stay to the right. You'll eventually come to Bulldog Haven nestled in the woods.
Vince Dooley
Head Coach 1964-1988
Continued as Athletic Director until 2004
Overall 201-77-10 record
1 National Championship - 1980
6 SEC Championships
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994
Died October 28, 2022
Buried at Bulldog Haven section of Oconee Hill Cemetery on November 3, 2022 
As the Fernandez family was taking a few photos and paying their respects, a '66 letterman from Pennsylvania, Jim Massey, drove up, and there was a reunion of old Dawgs.