Topic: George Rorrer's passing - FYI

[lovetheherd2]

George T. Rorrer Jr. was a sportswriter

Written by    John Kiesewetter
FORT WRIGHT, KY — When Randy Rorrer realized he probably wouldn’t ever be a professional baseball player, he decided to follow his father’s footsteps into sports writing.

“My dad was really the only one I knew who loved to go to work, because he just loved what he did,” said Rorrer, 53, a former sportswriter and columnist in Daytona Beach, Fla.

His father, George T. Rorrer Jr., died Wednesday at Rosedale Manor, Latonia, at age 79. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease seven years ago.

Mr. Rorrer, a member of the Marshall University School of Journalism Hall of Fame, covered the Bengals, Reds, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Marshall, Louisville AAA baseball and other teams during his nearly 60-year career.

“It was ball games all the time for him,” said Ann Haas Rorrer of Fort Wright, his wife of 20 years.

Born in Beckley, W.Va. in 1932, Mr. Rorrer first wrote for his hometown paper, the Raleigh Herald. He was sports editor of the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch in the 1960s before moving to Louisville in 1970 to write for the Louisville Times and Courier-Journal. After retiring from the Courier-Journal, he wrote for The Enquirer until 2004.

The move to Louisville saved his life, his son said. Had he stayed in Huntington, there was “a 95 percent chance” Mr. Rorrer would have been on the Marshall football team plane which crashed on Nov. 14, 1970, killing all aboard, Randy Rorrer said.

Mr. Rorrer also worked in the University of Louisville sports information office briefly in the 1970s, when Denny Crum coached basketball.

“He liked being on the beat and being objective, instead of being the PR (public relations) guy,” his son said.

Yet one of his “endearing qualities was having the knack to make people comfortable,” his son said.

Reds announcer Jim Kelch said Mr. Rorrer was very helpful when Kelch began broadcasting Louisville Redbirds games in 1989.

“He was a very good guy. He showed me around the old American Association cities,” Kelch said.

As Redbirds beat writer, Mr. Rorrer “was trusted by players, coaches and team front office personnel,” Kelch said.

Bengals President Mike Brown visited Mr. Rorrer two years ago in a nursing home because he said his father, team founder Paul Brown, “always liked and trusted George and his work,” Mrs. Rorrer said.

Mr. Rorrer also taught journalism in the 1960s at Marshall, his alma mater, and at Northern Kentucky University in the late 1990s. He was a 25-year member of the U.S. Marines Reserves, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1979.

In addition to his wife and son, survivors include sons George T. Rorrer III of Clarksville, Ind., and Jeff Rorrer of Sellersburg, Ind.; daughters Vanessa Iredale of Louisville, and Valerie Lavigne of Snohomish, Wash.; step-daughters Jennifer Hoyt of Hot Springs, Ark., and Beth Haas of Charleston, S.C.; former wife Betty Rorrer of Jeffersonville, Ind.; sister Janet Thornquist of Natick, Mass.; 13 grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday at St. Agnes Church, Fort Wright, followed by Mass. Burial in St. Mary Cemetery, Fort Mitchell.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, Marshall University, P.O. Box 1360, Huntington, WV 25701.

[wesnky]

George was a great guy and a huge Herd fan.  Sat with him at many game watching parties in NKY area over the years until his health started failing him  maybe 5 years ago.

George will be missed!

[lovetheherd2]

Hey Wes,

If you are still in Villa Hills, KY there's an effort to get alumni from the area to go to the visitation. Jim Farley sent out a note to the alumni group officers.

George's last game watching was at Tickets some years back. I believe his son brought him & he fell leaving after the game. Parkinson's took it's toll and kept him from attending later events.

I'm in Florida so cannot make it. Hope all is well with you & family.

[cincyherd]

I'm so sorry to hear about George's passing.  He was a very nice guy.  He would always come to the "get togethers"  at Tickets.  Three, four or five years ago (there abouts), there was an event at Tickets and his wife Anne came in and told me George was in the car out side but didn't feel like coming inside.  I hadn't seen him in a few years and I was happy to go out to the car and see him.  He looked good but I could tell something was going on with his health.

George is the guy who publicly confronted Bo Schembeckler (at a press conference) about him trashing Marshall in the press.  I don't remember the details of the story but George let Bo know that if you were going to trash Marshall, don't expect it to be forgotten when you come to Huntington.  I think Bo actually tried to attack George at the press conference.  (Would someone tell that story in this thread?)

George was a great Son of Marshall and will be missed.

[wesnky]

John, I plan on attending visitation monday morning.  I sent you a pm.

[cincyherd]

Wes, I plan on attending around 10:30 am.

[Gaylen]

George was a great guy. I had him as a reference for years. I followed him (not immediately however) in Beckley before going to work at the HD. I didn't go to Louisville ... realy don't like big towns.

[jstherd]

I was a friend of George Rorrer and talked to him often about Marshall.  He was always so positive about Marshall's future. RIP my friend.