Dick Harlan "RLH" 1946-2012

valpotx · January 15, 2012, 06:54:54 PM

My prayers are with his family as well

VUfan · January 15, 2012, 07:18:49 PM

Sorry to hear of rlh's passing I will miss him on the Board.

historyman · January 15, 2012, 07:21:58 PM

I think rlh would be very happy with all the results this weekend.

VU men 2 wins over YSU and CSU.

VU women victory over Butler.

Valpo High boys victory over Portage.

Now if Purdue can knock off Iowa that will complete a very nice set of victories that rlh would be very excited about.

I also concur with renaming this forum or at least part of the forum in rlh's honor.

Dick's last message on his facebook page:
Dick Harlan
Back to Chicago tomorrow for more radiation treatments...won't have access to the internet until Friday evening. Have a great week my friends....

Thanks for the well wishes, Dick

Rest in peace.

agibson · January 16, 2012, 12:23:37 PM

A great loss to Valparaiso athletics, and certainly this forum. He'll certainly be missed.

Has anyone heard of funeral or memorial arrangements?

nkvu · January 16, 2012, 02:10:12 PM

Quote from: StlVUFan on January 14, 2012, 12:40:35 PMI have numerous CD and DVD memories of past VU basketball games, all thanks to rlh.

As a visiter and occassional poster, when I first started visiting the board many years ago, I remember asking if anyone had a tape of the Old Miss game, as I had never seen it. RLH didn't know me from Adam but he sent it to me and wouldn't even let me reimburse him for the postage. I'll miss his posts. My sympathies to his family, and as the topic says, RIP RLH.

StlVUFan · January 16, 2012, 03:53:13 PM

Quote from: nkvu on January 16, 2012, 02:10:12 PM
Quote from: StlVUFan on January 14, 2012, 12:40:35 PMI have numerous CD and DVD memories of past VU basketball games, all thanks to rlh.

As a visiter and occassional poster, when I first started visiting the board many years ago, I remember asking if anyone had a tape of the Old Miss game, as I had never seen it. RLH didn't know me from Adam but he sent it to me and wouldn't even let me reimburse him for the postage. I'll miss his posts. My sympathies to his family, and as the topic says, RIP RLH.

Same here. I had actually snagged a copy of it off ESPN Classic when they were playing the most memorable NCAA tourney games, as voted by fans, and the Valpo-Ole Miss game was one of the winners. But it was fun to see it as it was broadcast in the Chicago area. The real find was when he also found me a copy of the Fla. State game in the 2nd round.

Valpo89 · January 16, 2012, 05:51:53 PM

Visitation is 3-5 p.m. Saturday, with a memorial service at 5 p.m. at Moeller Funeral Home.

chef · January 16, 2012, 06:25:31 PM

Quote from: lowposter on January 15, 2012, 04:16:20 PMThere was an article on him in the Times of NW Indiana last month and it mentioned he started in Mt. Carmel, Il. back in 1971. That is a lot of basketball. I emailed him and asked how long he had been at Mt. Carmel and he would have announced one of my high school games back in that era. Talk about a small world. He looked forward to getting back in the booth and calling one of my son's games...he didnt think he had announced father/son's games. I am glad he did listen to my son's game his last evening. He will be missed in our community and our church.

Dick missed by one of year with the Suiters. Eric's last year at Valpo was 91-92. Dick's first year working color with me was the 92-93 season. He, of course announced many of Jerrick's games the last few years at VHS. When you think about all the projects that Dick took on involving Valpo sports it's really incredible. I'm sure I'll miss a few: Radio announcer, Brown and Gold Digest creator and writer, Brown and Gold website, Valpo sports website, multiple fan boards, Valpo Football TV show producer, Valpo football and basketball (play-by-play and producer), Homer Drew show (host and producer), Valpo sports radio network (Sales, production, and executive director) Public address announcer for men's and women's basketball. Again, I'm sure I'm missing a few. I echo the sentiments of all. He'll be truly missed.

valporun · January 16, 2012, 09:28:08 PM

I know some of you will remember the show I'm referring to, but reading this thread, I feel like we're writing a script for the next edition of "This Is Your Life". We just don't have a certain Ralph Edwards to host the show were rlh is the star, and we're the people he has to guess who he impacted with what he did with his long career and life. Mind you, I'm referencing "This Is Your Life", and I'm 31, when most of the people who would remember this show are older than me.

StlVUFan · January 17, 2012, 01:53:56 AM

Quote from: valporun on January 16, 2012, 09:28:08 PM
I know some of you will remember the show I'm referring to, but reading this thread, I feel like we're writing a script for the next edition of "This Is Your Life". We just don't have a certain Ralph Edwards to host the show were rlh is the star, and we're the people he has to guess who he impacted with what he did with his long career and life. Mind you, I'm referencing "This Is Your Life", and I'm 31, when most of the people who would remember this show are older than me.

LOL, I used to watch that show, and M*A*S*H once did a spoof on it.

valpopal · January 17, 2012, 09:28:19 AM

A word of thanks to the administrator for adding Dick Harlan's image to the masthead as recognition of his contributions over the years.

valpopal · January 17, 2012, 09:48:45 PM

Here is a link to the obituary:

http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/1805284.html

trharlan · January 17, 2012, 10:56:46 PM

I can begin to express enough thanks for the kind words you have had for my father. He loved VU athletics and really did love his interaction with all of you on this forum. I can only wonder how big his smile was after the Men beat Youngstown State and Cleveland State last weekend and the women beat Butler. He so would have enjoyed being in attendance at those games and probably was.

Continue to fight the good fight and thanks so much for the friendships that you gave him. He relished them more than you'll ever know. And thanks for the picture on the banner. What a wonderful tribute.

As he would've said, Keep the faith!

TR

milanmiracle · January 18, 2012, 10:40:35 AM

To the family of RLH, I am truly sorry for your loss.

From a personal perspective, I am going to miss our debates and our "agree to disagree" discussions most. He was a good guy to banter with and I always appreciated his loyalty to Valpo. I just went back and reread one of his PM's on the old board, and now I am going to miss those conversations even more.

FWalum · January 18, 2012, 05:08:54 PM

Wow... I have not been on the forum for some time because of some travel outside of the country and I come back to this sad news. Most recently RLH and I had talked about the possibility of his coming to the "Fort" for the IPFW game back in December it was then that he mentioned his illness but still hoped he would be able to make the trip. On the day of the game Mark LaBarbera told me that RLH could not make the trip.

Despite his inability to come to the game RLH sent me a message explaining his absence and further news of his illness "I have what is called a "soft tissue sarcoma", which apparently is pretty rare. You'd know I'd get something no one else has."

Hard to believe that a little more than a month later we are grieving his passing. To the family, you have my sympathies and to Dick, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.

We know that he is in a better place!

ORUmom · January 31, 2012, 01:32:27 AM

It has been several years since I have visited your message board, I was hoping for good news about Homer & his wife. Learning of RLH's passing was a shock. Our son, HugeORUfan started ORU's original fan page around 15 years ago. We enjoyed the relationships that developed on the boards. When Dick came to Tulsa, we looked forward to lunch before the game with him & others from the message board. Though we all pushed each others' buttons, please know that I can't imagine a better rivalry than the one between Valpo & ORU.

My prayers go out to RLH's family & friends. May he rest in peace until we meet again.

ORUmom

StlVUFan · January 31, 2012, 10:30:39 AM

Quote from: ORUmom on January 31, 2012, 01:32:27 AM
It has been several years since I have visited your message board, I was hoping for good news about Homer & his wife. Learning of RLH's passing was a shock. Our son, HugeORUfan started ORU's original fan page around 15 years ago. We enjoyed the relationships that developed on the boards. When Dick came to Tulsa, we looked forward to lunch before the game with him & others from the message board. Though we all pushed each others' buttons, please know that I can't imagine a better rivalry than the one between Valpo & ORU.

My prayers go out to RLH's family & friends. May he rest in peace until we meet again.

ORUmom

Thanks mom, good to hear from you. If we'd been paired with you, I for one was planning on making the trip like old times.

Good luck against Akron and in Sioux Falls in March. Saw the beat down you laid on Xavier and was impressed (Texas Tech was not bad either). In both cases, excuses could be made for the loser, but not for being creamed.

tmh · February 01, 2012, 11:05:38 AM

I want to join with ORUMom in expressing condolences to our Valpo friends over Dick's passing. Like Mom, I hadn't been over here for years, and news of Dick's death came as quite a shock. I didn't have any idea he was ill. I got to know Dick pretty well over the course of several lunches with he, StlVUFan, ValpoTerry (I THINK that's right) and others. RLH was a frequent visitor to our board back in the day, and he always had great points to make, and didn't back off from mixing it up with some of our fans in a little good natured fun. I really respected Dick and his work. Always looked forward to seeing him at the tournaments in Tulsa.

We pray for Dick's family and his extended Valpo family. Dick's passing is certainly a loss to many.

StlVUFan · February 01, 2012, 01:24:03 PM

Thanks tmh. ValpoTerry still visits here from time to time, so he'll see your note, I'm sure, but I'll let him know you said hi.

KL31NY · January 13, 2014, 01:23:13 PM

A friend on facebook mentioned that today was the anniversary of rlh's death and I wanted to bump this thread.

It was nice to read through some of the old posts and bring back some memories of rlh. I also found an old Torch article I wrote about him and the recent death of Gene Bartow from 2012.

Quote"They (Gene and Dick) were very enthusiastic, very avid sports fans," said former head coach and current Associate Athletic Director Homer Drew. "Gene was a gentleman of the game. Dick had a great knack for sports. He was a walking encyclopedia."

"Dick was really an avid supporter of Valpo athletics and a great promoter of women's basketball," said Crusader women's basketball head coach Keith Freeman.

"Valparaiso University athletics and the women's basketball program has lost a family member," Freeman said in his pre-game speech.

"When you think of Dick, the three things you think are Valpo U., Valpo High, and Purdue," said Associate Director of Athletics for Media Relations Ryan Wronkowicz. "If he was not working at games, he was there as a fan."

Dick Harlan "RLH" 1946-2012

historyman