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Dave O'Hara Obituary
He died of cancer at his home in Winter Haven Fla., his daughter, Debbie O'Hara-Rusckowski, said.
Popular with his colleagues and admired for the speed and accuracy of his reporting, O'Hara began his career in May 1942 as a 15-year-old copy boy in the Boston bureau.
"Dave was a no-nonsense sports writer who brought gusto and grit to his work for half a century. He was every bit the epitome of Boston sports as Williams, Orr, Russell, Auerbach and Bird," AP Sports Editor Terry Taylor said. "He gave readers a front-row view of their heroes and heartbreaks, equally at home in the press box or the clubhouse."
Six months after being hired, O'Hara helped cover a fire that killed 491 at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.
"Dave wasn't just a sports writer," said Joe Giuliotti, a retired Red Sox beat writer with the Boston Herald. "He was a reporter, and a great one."
With a break for Korean War service, he worked in Boston until April 1959, when he was transferred to Milwaukee. He covered the Green Bay Packers and coach Vince Lombardi during their championship seasons of the early '60s, and the Milwaukee Braves when current baseball commissioner Bud Selig was an owner and Hank Aaron was their star.
O'Hara returned to Boston in July 1965 as AP's New England sports editor. He held that position until his retirement in August 1992, becoming a fixture at Fenway Park and Boston Garden.
"He'd say, 'I'm the luckiest man in the world. I had the greatest job. I have the greatest family,'" his daughter said.
Said baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski: "Dave was a real class act, a real pleasure to work with."
O'Hara also was a mentor to freelancers who worked for him at games.
"He covered every major sporting event in Boston for four decades and did so always under the gun of the AP sports deadline, which meant getting it done fast and accurately," said Nate Greenberg, former assistant to the president of the Boston Bruins who worked with O'Hara as an AP freelance writer while in college.
O'Hara got it done even when he was flustered.
On July 9, 1976, O'Hara was at Fenway when general manager Dick O'Connell announced that Red Sox owner Thomas A. Yawkey had died. O'Hara's freelancer that day was Kevin Dupont, who went on to become a longtime hockey writer for the Boston Globe and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Clutching handwritten notes, O'Hara grabbed the telephone and began to dictate a story to the office. Suddenly, he stopped, Dupont remembered.
"What?" O'Hara yelled into the phone.
The editor wanted him to attribute the news to a source. O'Hara responded sharply, Dupont recalled:
"What? According to whom? According ... to ... whom? Are you kidding? ... According to Dave O'Hara of the AP. The (expletive) man is dead!"
Direct and correct. That was O'Hara.
That was his approach, whether covering numerous Boston Marathons, 24 Red Sox spring training camps, eight no-hitters, the Stanley Cup champion Bruins of 1970 and 1972 with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, the Celtics with Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Bird, tennis and golf tournaments and college sports.
He was there in 1967 when Boston's "Impossible Dream" team reached the World Series and in 1986 when the Red Sox came within one out of their first world championship since 1918 only to lose after Bill Buckner's error let the New York Mets force the deciding seventh game.
In 1991, Williams was honored at Fenway and tipped his cap after refusing to do that in his final game. Some reporters thought the gesture by a star who had a rocky relationship with sports writers was directed at O'Hara.
"He and I talked about it afterward," O'Hara said. "He came upstairs and said, 'Yeah, you were one of them. But you're all right.'"
O'Hara worked before the proliferation of television sports networks, online sites and social media. It was a time when reporters and players hung out together.
"We were pretty close friends," former Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley said. "When you went to the bar with him and talked about the game, our talk would stay in the bar. Just a super guy."
O'Hara had a hearty laugh and was nicknamed "The Dancer" after impressing friends with his jitterbug skills. As a youngster, he did some boxing as an amateur in Boston, but said, "I quickly found out that some other line of endeavor would be more beneficial, so I found another line of work."
In 1993, the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America established the Dave O'Hara Award for long and meritorious service to the chapter. He was its first recipient.
A Boston native, O'Hara had been living in Winter Haven, where he had covered spring training.
He is survived by his daughter Debbie and her husband Steve; sons Stephen, and his wife Susan, and David Jr., and his wife Donna; six grandchildren, his sister, Ethel O'Neil, and her husband, Joe O'Neil. He also leaves his long-time companion, Sue Ezell, of Winter Haven.
Cis, his wife of 43 years, died in 1995.
HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Memories and Condolences
for Dave O'Hara
27 Entries
April 24, 2013
MAY THE GOD OF COMFORT BE WITH YOU,DRAW CLOSE TO GOD AND HE WILL DRAW CLOSE TO YOU..JMES.4:8...Q
April 18, 2013
As you turn to God through your tears and sorrow, bear in mind, “He is the healer of the brokenhearted ones”. (Ps.147:3)
C Johnson
Robin
April 13, 2013
May your fond memories bring a smile to your face. Turn to God to bring you comfort in your distress. He is near to all those calling upon him and their cry's for help he hears.
Psalms 145: 18,19
How you can show support
Evette
April 13, 2013
Grief can be so hard, but our special memories help us cope. Remembering you and your loved one today and always.
Allan Fitzmaurice
April 13, 2013
I first met Dave in 1981, when at 17, I started working as a freelance sports reporter. He could not have been more helpful and kind. Dave treated young people starting out the same as the veteran reporters he had worked with for years-always easy going, helpful and never to busy to share his wealth of knowledge. I always felt fortunate when there was empty seat at his table which wasn't very often because everyone wanted to enjoy his company.
RIP Dave
Jack O'Leary
April 13, 2013
To the O'Hara family, I offer my sincerest condolences, but I temper that with the knowledge that you've received a legacy of laughter and love. No one can ask for more.
Dave became a big part of my life early in my career when Gil Peters, the UPI sports editor in Boston introduced me to Dave as my "opposition. Taking me aside, Gil told me that if I get in a jam, Dave would take care of me. Trust me, Dave got me through the early days and neither of us had a reason to panic over the basics. A story was another thing...but that's the job.
In those days, I quickly learned, there was a triumvirate of sports writers in Boston; (in alphabetical order) Ray FitzGerald of the Boston Globe; Tim Horgan of the Boston Herald and Dave O'Hara of the AP.
If it wasn't for Dave's help especially in the early days, I might never have been able to have a 23-year career of writing about sports in the greatest sports town in the world.
Thank you Dave. As I now work on a national golf and lifestyle strata, your lessons hold true the same as they di the day a stumbled down the press box stairs in 1974.
Michael Short
April 12, 2013
As the AP bureau chief in Boston I worked with Dave for the latter part of his distinguished career. He will be remembered as an influential figure in the history of New England sports writing. Beyond that, he was an unfailingly loyal colleague and a good friend. My wife and I will miss the annual ritual of sending a Christmas card asking for Dave's prediction for the coming Red Sox season. Our deepest sympathies to the family.
George McNamee
April 12, 2013
Winter Haven has lost a legend and sports writers everywhere have lost someone to aspire to. My love to Babe and Joe.
April 12, 2013
So sorry to hear about the Passing of Mr O'Hara. Steve and Dave do we have to talk about being introduced to 16 ounce Budweisers can at your house, 40 years ago, and me deciding to take a nap on the sidewalk on my way home,early in the morning, missing the high school ski trip the next day. Yeah we don't need to talk about that
the reality is I was very lucky to grow up next to the O'Hara family and hang out with the kids. we were very luck and Blessed as kids to grow up together
God Bless the O'Hara Family
Gary Mac Isaac
April 12, 2013
happy are those who mourn,since they will be comforted."matt.5:4..so sorry for your loss..d~~
April 12, 2013
One of the best things I was fortunate enough to take away from my 15 or so years in front office work with the Pats, Bruins and Boston Garden was the special relationships I was lucky enough to have with so many of the Boston and New England press --
in appreciating that even in more recent years, it's easy to remember that Dave was surely one of those at the top of the list -- to his family, sincere regrets at his passing -- Jack Nicholson, Auburn, Mass
Pat
April 12, 2013
We are sorry for your loss. May the love of God and friends carry you through this time of great sorrow. Psalms 9:9
Richard T. White
April 11, 2013
I had the honor and privilege of meeting Dave twenty five years ago when I was working for the Boston and Winter Haven Red Sox. He was a man of enormous integrity, character, and class. He had many friends throughout the county, but had established deep friendships with many of the Winter Haven residents. He was a very kind, generous,and giving man. When you met Dave, you liked him immediately.....his laugh, smile, and sense of humor was infectious.
During the Korean War, he served with honor, distinction, and courage. He was very proud having served his country and receiving the Combat Infantry Badge. He had a deep and abiding faith that carried him throughout his life. I, as well as, many people feel enriched having know him, and will be deeply grateful knowing he made a positive difference in many lives. He was a true friend and I thank God for having known him.
May He Rest In Peace.
Tom Shaer
April 11, 2013
My first job was as a freelance assistant to Dave, when I was 18 years old. I lied about my age and he later told me, "Don't worry, I was 15 when I went to work for the AP and I lied about MY age, too." Dave was a great mentor, friend and after-work companion as he allowed me into his circle of media veterans and front office executives. I learned a lot and benefitted from introductions made with the O'Hara Seal of Approval. Deb, my deepest sympathy to you, your siblings and the entire extended family.
Dick Scanlon
April 11, 2013
Dave and I go back to his days of covering the Red Sox in Winter Haven. I admired him and envied some of the assignments he had. I asked him often about covering the Milwaukee Braves, the Lombardi Packers and of course the Red Sox. Among other good things, he was a resource and always helpful when I asked for information. He was quite a professional with a good sense of humor, and I can hear his laugh right now.
Bruce Dean
April 11, 2013
Debbie, My sympathy to you and your family upon the passing of your dad. He had quite a career and life. Cherish your memories. They will never leave you.
Ann Jameson
April 11, 2013
Dave was so big in life, he leaves us with a heavy and big heart today and at the same time his hearty laugh and zest for life. He lives on. WIth love and prayes to his family xo
Charles Ross
April 11, 2013
Dave was a wonderful man when I covered the Red Sox for WJDA Radio. Always willing to help a young radio guy. He was a class act and I'm sorry to read of his passing. My condolances to his family.
Terry McSweeney
April 11, 2013
Dave O'Hara was a man like no other. Unique, yes. But also honest, opinionated, funny, sincere, warm, witty and many other descriptive words that he would find annoying and verbose. Let all who know him remember Dave O'Hara as the consummate professional whose passing leaves the world one less wonderful human being.
michelle plakas-kaiser
April 11, 2013
rip
B Lucas
April 11, 2013
My sincere condolence for the loss of Dave your dear loved one. May your fond thoughts of him bring back good memories. Peace and love to your family and friends, and to the spirit that you all show. [email protected]
Larry O'Neil
April 11, 2013
RIP Uncle Dave!!!
C.D.
April 11, 2013
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. O'Hara. May God grant you peace during this difficult time.2 Cor. 1:3
Veronica Cother-Bentley
April 11, 2013
May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived.
Ed
April 11, 2013
Stephen, Debbie, and David, you have my sincere sympathy for your father's passing. Please find solace in God's word at this sad time. He will give you comfort because he cares. 1 Peter 5:6,7
Dwayne Bickham
April 11, 2013
rest in peace
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