Several people help run the Gootter Grand Slam, a benefit tennis event, including, from left, Jeff Miller, Mark Hardy, John Davis, Tom Pothoff, Bill Burk, P.J. Lopez, Rich Hoshaw and Gary Cohen.

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In life, Steven M. Gootter was a visionary. His family and friends are working to make sure that the foresight, imagination and zest for living of the inventor and entrepreneur won't be diminished by death.

Gootter's large family and diverse group of friends are perpetuating his vision with the Steven M. Gootter Foundation, which is dedicated to defeating sudden cardiac death through education, awareness and research.

The foundation has raised more than $500,000 to fund research at the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center and hopes to raise at least $275,000 more at the Third Annual Gootter Grand Slam March 30.

"Steve was an inventor and in addition to own patents, he helped other inventors bring their creations to patent and to realize their potentials," said Andrew Messing, Gootter's brother-in-law.

"Researchers at Sarver Heart Center are applying for grants to prove out their hypotheses, and I think Steve would look down and think it is wonderful to be able to make a difference."

The foundation was established three years ago, shortly after Gootter, 42, succumbed to sudden cardiac death while jogging. Sudden cardiac death happens when the heart stops abruptly due to a malfunction of the electrical system; cardiopulmonary resuscitation and shock with a defibrillator can restore normal heart rhythm and prevent death.

Gootter, who won the state doubles tennis championship with Tucson High School classmate Tom Pothoff in 1980, was athletic and fit throughout his life, Messing said.

The University of Arizona graduate had no history of heart disease or prior health problems when felled by sudden cardiac death, which is responsible for more than half of all heart-related deaths.

"Steve was an exceptional guy with deep connections to Tucson and the community and many people on many levels. There aren't a lot of guys like him, and the outpouring we saw at his funeral was testament to that; nearly 1,600 people came to his funeral," Messing said.

People were saddened and frustrated at the loss, he said.

"The thought that someone who was so full of life and lived life to the fullest could prematurely lose his life was frustrating," Messing said.

Frustration sparked determination, and a proposed memorial tennis tournament evolved into a foundation that united the many people whose lives Gootter had touched — from tennis buddies and business associates to extended family and lifelong friends.

Nearly 100 volunteers help stage the foundation's gala dinner and annual tennis tournament/pro exhibition led by Pothoff. The non-profit has no paid staff.

For the past two years, benefit proceeds have funded the Steven M. Gootter Investigator Award to Professor of Clinical Medicine Dr. Vincent Sorrell, who is studying cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a predictor for sudden cardiac death. The foundation is also funding Dr. Richard Lane, professor of psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience, who is researching stress and sudden cardiac death.

Another foundation-funded study investigated the role of the protein actin as a possible risk factor in sudden cardiac death and has resulted in funding from the American Heart Association. That study was led by Anke Zieseniss a research associate affiliated with Sarver's Molecular Cardiovascular Research Program.

Messing equates foundation grants to "seed money" in the business world.

"In business we would call this venture capital. Seed money gets the studies off the ground, and if they are successful then larger organizations such as the American Heart Association can fund future studies," Messing said.

The foundation's goal is to make an immediate impact, with an ultimate vision of raising $2 million to fund the Steven M. Gootter Endowed Chair at Sarver and cure sudden cardiac death.

"The key is being able to find a cure for sudden cardiac death. Not only do we love Steve, but we know there are others in the world losing their loved ones to this syndrome that is so difficult to diagnose and to treat because it surprises people," Pothoff, Gootter's old tennis partner, said.

"It affects healthy people as well as heart patients and claims more than 330,000 lives every year, and we want to change that."