HOOP HISTORIANS
Committed to promoting goodwill through basketball

Surl Kim was inducted into the Army Air Force in 1942 and served as a World War II navigator on B-17's as a member of the Eighth Air Force, 92nd Bomb Group, 407th Division while stationed in England.  After being discharged from the service, he attended the University of Southern California and started a love for football and the USC Trojans.  In 1953, Surl established Kim Tours and Travel, which provided sports travel packages for University of Southern California Football and for the Rose Bowl.  Because of the hundreds of thousands of people he moved to and from the event, Surl was affectionately known as "Mister Rose Bowl".  His company was the first to start organized sports tours to the Rose Bowl and later to the Super Bowl.  In 1969 he organized his first cross-country tour for USC Alumni to travel to the USC-Notre Dame football game in South Bend -- a tradition that would continue 40 years, through 2009.  His support of USC Football continued for the next five decades as a Life Member of Cardinal & Gold and USC Scholarship.  Surl's love for sports, frequent travel and the ability to enjoy people saw him attend various sporting events, including the Final Four.  Through that relationship, Surl and his wife of 41 years, Dorothy, became charter members of the Hoop Historians, when the group officially formed in 1999.  The couple was recognized as "The First Family" of the Hoop Historians in 2010 at the Final Four in Indianapolis.  Surl attended 59 consecutive Rose Bowls, 37 Super Bowls and 29 Final Fours, and made many new friends everywhere he went.  Surl Kim enjoyed life to its fullest and would put a smile on the faces of everyone he would meet.