The community of Ashland and beyond lost a loyal supporter and friend with the sudden passing of Larry Stine, 67, on Saturday.
Stine was a longtime member of the local media in television and in print, along with serving the community through the Ashland Elks.
Former Times-Gazette sports editor Doug Haidet shared a warm, heartfelt piece about Stine on Facebook, describing Stine's passion for his beloved community of Ashland. He met Stine in 2006.
"I will always remember Larry Stine sauntering into the Times-Gazette newsroom during our time as members of the sports staff to whip up yet another one of his thousands of articles," Haidett wrote in his post. "He was always willing to cover every sport - boys or girls - and I think he would have driven to Mars to cover an Ashland-area game if you asked him.
"He was so passionate about this community, so filled with pride for his Ashland roots, so uniquely important to this area. Even the folks around here who might never have met him in person, if you or anyone in your family played a sport in Ashland County any time over the last four decades, you at least knew him through his storytelling."
Part-time help with full-time dedication
Haidet noted even though Stine was a part-timer, he was dependable and reliable, putting the energy and passion of a full-time reporter into his work. He relished being the person people turned to for what was going on in the Ashland area.
"Larry always enjoyed writing stories reminiscing about years gone by," Haidet wrote. "If someone passed away who he knew had been a memorable or important piece of Ashland's sports scene, he wanted to write about them to be sure their memory lived on at least a little bit more through his words.
"He understood the power of journalism, the power of storytelling, the power of doing your part in trying to unite a community just a little bit more through words," he continued.
"The world of journalism and folks' appreciation of it - in so many unfortunate ways - has gone through a massive evolution in the four decades since Larry began writing. But he never lost his love for it, never stopped trying to get athletes' voices into his pieces."
Haidet savored the opportunity to visit with Stine on the few occasions they covered the same game.
"His focus was always on the contest, always on relaying the action to readers," Haidet said. "At times, it almost felt like being back in that TG newsroom, hammering out articles for the sports section that we took so much pride in.
"He would have said the sporting events of the past few days around here - and in Cleveland - were part of a spectacular sports weekend. Ashland High School football and Hillsdale High School football both improving to 8-0, Ashland University football beating a nationally ranked team to take over sole possession of first place in their league and the Cleveland Guardians winning an epic Game 5 to advance to the American League Championship Series.
"Even the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame celebrated its 20th induction class Saturday night - one of the most impressive classes in its 40 years of existence. Larry would have loved all of it."
At the Hall of Fame banquet, fittingly, Ashland City Schools Superintendent Steve Paramore read a tribute honoring Stine and a moment of silence was observed.
"Rest easy, Larry. I doubt your reach in the Ashland community could ever truly be computed, but thousands and thousands around here have you to thank for telling their stories," Haidet said.
About Larry Stine
Stine was a 1975 graduate of Ashland High School, and joined the TV side of the Mid-State Multimedia crew in the early 1990s. He served as a news anchor, covered sports, weather and business ar WMFD-TV. He also hosted “At the Fair.”
He served as a part-time writer for the Ashland Times-Gazette, where he wrote sports features and human interest stories. In 2014, he was inducted into the Ohio Amateur Softball Association's Hall of Honor for his decades-long career with the Times-Gazette, following Ashland teams throughout Ohio and across the country as they went to national championships.
Stine was member of the Ashland Elks Lodge #1360 for nearly 40 years, where he cooked many meals for visitors and lent a hand to one of the Elks' many community-centric activities.
Friends may call 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday at Roberts Funeral Home-Ashland Chapel, 1058 US Route 250 N. Funeral services will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at the funeral home (and livestreamed at www.RobertsFuneralHome.com/obituaries/Larry-Stine ) with services performed by the Elks Lodge #1360. Burial will be at Ashland County Memorial Park.
Online tributes may be made at www.RobertsFuneralHome.com. Memorial contributions may be made to Ashland City Schools, c/o Ashland County Community Foundation, 300 College Ave, Ashland 44805, or Mapleton Schools, 1 Mountie Drive, Ashland 44805.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Remembering Larry Stine, Ashland media member, community supporter in Ashland County
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