Scotts Valley’s Mark Huugh Brewer was a beloved official. It’s an oxymoron and an anomaly in sports these days, but that was Brewer’s impact.

A former Cabrillo College club volleyball player and beach standout — he once battled against two of the game’s greats in Sinjin Smith and Karch Kiraly on his home turf at Main Beach in Santa Cruz — Brewer transitioned into coaching, and later became one of the area’s most cherished and respected officials.

Brewer, who gave his life to the sport, officiated his last match at Soquel High on March 12; he could barely see and had trouble maintaining his balance. He battled diabetes for years and died of kidney failure on the morning of March 27, less than 24 hours after being moved to hospice care in Salinas. He was 64.

Brewer officiated volleyball for 46 years. By the time he was honored by the Central Coast Section as a Golden Whistle Award recipient in 2023, he had worked more than 90 CCS matches, 60 NorCal matches, including 10 championships, and one state final.

On the evening of his passing, a moment of silence was held at the Harbor-Santa Cruz boys’ match. He was honored again last weekend at the Harbor Surf City Invitational.

More tributes are in the works. For now, his loss is being mourned.“He was a positive influence, a role model who influenced across the generations,” said Mark Hull, who coached Aptos’ girls volleyball team with Brewer, a friend of more than 30 years.

While most people will remember Brewer for his officiating, the Soquel High alum had several hobbies.

He loved playing and teaching volleyball. He also was passionate about playing pinball, as well as researching the history of the game. He played at Boardwalk Bowl and the Boardwalk.

“If someone beat his top score, he was going to have to change that,” said Mark Mattern, a longtime volleyball official.

Brewers was an equally talented and competitive body surfer. He had his own gear and traveled to competitions up and down the coast.

Hull met Brewer in the mid-70s, and they competed together and against each other in volleyball the early ’80s, when several schools in North Santa Cruz County opened their gymnasium doors to the public for co-ed, pick-up games.

“I called him a ‘gentle giant,’ ” Hull said. “He was 6-foot-4, 240. For as big as he was, he moved incredibly well, and he had great setting hands. … He was a big guy with a wonderful baritone voice.”

Jon Anderson, who has been best friends with Brewer since they met on the playground in kindergarten, said they had numerous adventures over the years. They didn’t always think things through, but they had fun.

“He was a strong guy,” Anderson said. “Once, he lifted the back end of a truck (a two-ton Toyota Hilux) while I changed a tire. We didn’t have a jack. Probably not the smartest decision, but those were the sort of things we did together.”

Mark Dorfman, a former athletic director at Aptos High, became familiar with Brewer before Dorfman moved to the area.

Dorfman and a friend drove from Alameda to Santa Cruz to watch a pro beach volleyball tournament, headlined by Smith and Kiraly, some 40 years ago. Most of the contestants were tanned and chiseled. Brewer was neither, but he was skilled.

“I remember thinking, ‘Who is this overweight guy?” Dorfman said. “He had a cut shot at the net that drove those guys (Smith and Kiraly) crazy. He’d twist his wrist and the ball would roll on the edge of the net and fall down. That’s pretty cool to have that memory of him.”

Prior to officiating, Brewer coached girls teams at Aptos and San Lorenzo Valley. He later ran summer programs for Santa Cruz’s Parks and Recreation Department. At all times, he had nets, balls, and first-aide equipment in his truck.

“He gave himself to volleyball,” said Matt Shutz, Harbor’s longtime girls coach. “It was super meaningful for him. He impacted so many kids. Some of it was not even tangible: Doing things the right way and making sure they had a positive experience.”

Despite his ‘gentle giant’ monicker, as an official, Brewer wasn’t afraid to hand out a yellow or red card, or make a rare ejection.

Shutz was on the receiving end a couple of times.

“He kicked me out of a game once,” Shutz said. “I’ll never forget it; it was in 2010. It’s the only time I’ve been ejected.”

Coaches aren’t allowed to speak with officials during disputes, just team captains. Shutz had some words he wants to get off his chest.

“I was sick and tired of some calls and we were arguing and I said, ‘Well, you may as well give me a yellow,’ ” recalled Shutz, chuckling. “I asked him for a yellow and he gave me red. You don’t see those very often. They’re given when people act improperly.”

Despite their few run-ins, Shutz said he holds Brewer in the highest regard.

“He was very good with his rulebook,” the Pirates coach said. “But we’d battle sometimes.”

Whether Brewer was the first referee, aka the up ref, or second ref, working the floor, he was a towering presence. But he never spoke down to the players or treated them beneath him. Quite the opposite. When team captains exited from meetings with him after disputed plays, they often did so smiling.

“He was an institution in the volleyball community here,” Dorfman said. “He was kind and generous to everyone, respectful. And it helped that he was knowledgable.”

Eventually, health issues, mainly diabetes, got the best of Brewer, who was single and lived alone.

His vision worsened, which prevented him from responding to text messages. His balance got worse, too. He stepped on a nail that forced him to have five of his toes removed after his foot became infected.

Over the past year, Brewer, who was responsible for assigning referees matches, passed that duty over to longtime official Debbie Johnson. She’d ask him if he wanted a match every now and again. He rarely said no. She’d stand behind him, in case he fell, a sweet gesture considering he was twice her size.

“He was officiating by braille by the end,” Mattern said. “and he still called a great match. He always did.”

Within the past month, Brewer elected to stop receiving dialysis, a decision that ended his life prematurely.

“Losing his ability to be involved in volleyball was probably a pretty big deal for him,” Anderson said.

His death has left a hole in the volleyball community. He may be gone, but those close to him are coming up with plans to make sure he’s not forgotten.

His friends have begun brainstorming on ways to honor him. They’ve suggested a beach tournament in his honor, creating a memorial scholarship in his name, and, perhaps, getting a bench bearing his name on Beach Street, overlooking the volleyball courts. A celebration of life is also in the works.

“He was a special guy,” Anderson said. “He put his entire life into volleyball.”