Dan Wooldridge Lived a Memorable Life

 I noted this morning the death of Dan Wooldridge, a man I knew pretty well as one closely tied with athletics on several levels. Mostly, he was known as a top-notch nationally-recognized basketball and football official. He played several sports--notably baseball where he was a pro--but it was officiating that set him apart.

He once related to me the story of his involvement with women's college basketball at the Final Four level. Women's basketball was so new as a college sport some years ago that the powers that be wanted to be certain its most visible games be officiated well and they asked Dan to be one of the officials for the first Final Four. He immediately said "no," reasoning (correctly) that women should officiate and learn. The NCAA begged and he finally, reluctantly agreed to officiate the games.

Dan and I talked seriously some years ago about putting together a ghost-written (by me) autobiography, but he finally noted that he didn't want to tell his complete story until his mother--in her 90s at the time--died because she had given him up for adoption and didn't want that known. We missed the opportunity to tell a hell of a story, I'm afraid.

I worked with Dan's daughter, Sarah, for a couple of years at the Vinton Messenger and she was a good ad sales person, but she moved to California and put her talent as an artist to work for her. I always liked Sarah a lot. I called her "Granny," because she was so measured in getting things done. She truly adored her dad.

I suggest you read the obit in today's Roanoke Times for a more complete picture of Dan and his accomplishments. I will say that he was a widely admired man, who earned that admiration.