Rome Sentinel

Former SU sports information director Kimball dies

Longtime Syracuse University sports information director Lawrence A. Kimball died Saturday.

Kimball was Syracuse’s sports information director for 31 years, promoting student-athletes, coaches and teams. He retired in 1997. He worked with Hall of Fame coaches Ben Schwartzwalder, Dick MacPherson, Jim Boeheim, Roy Simmons Sr., Roy Simmons Jr., John Desko and Ed Carlin.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, June 16, at the Craftsman Inn in Fayetteville from 4 to 7 p.m. with a program at 5.

After graduating from the Miami University in Ohio in 1954, Kimball served in the Army for two years, and then worked for the Norwich Sun and the Utica Press. He began his career as an assistant director of public relations and sports information director at the University of Vermont, before coming to SU in 1966.

During his tenure at Syracuse, Kimball promoted hundreds of All-Americans across all Syracuse sports and told the stories of countless student-athletes.

He assisted local, national and international media in coverage of the Orange.

Kimball worked 383 consecutive football games, which led the nation at the time of his retirement, and 42 straight International Rowing Association national championship regattas, including 31 as co-director.

He also served as the media coordinator for six NCAA Basketball Tournaments in the Dome, promoted the Orange in 11 football bowl games, 21 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments, including the 1975 and 1996 Final Fours, and six NCAA men’s lacrosse championships.

Enshrined in two Halls of Fames — the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame (1994) and the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame (2009) — Kimball served as the president of the ECAC Sports Information Directors Association (1973-74) and was honored with that organization’s Service Bureau Award in 1976. In 1997, he also was recognized as an honorary Syracuse University LetterWinner of Distinction and earned the Scoop Hudgins Lifetime Achievement Award and the Doyle Smith Sports Information Director/Media Award.

To honor his dedication to the Orange athletics program, SU established the Lawrence A. Kimball Sports Information Director Endowment Fund, the first of its kind at the time, and the men’s and women’s rowing programs christened a shell in his honor when he retired.

A native of New England, Kimball was born on Sept. 26, 1932. He is survived by his wife, Joan, daughters, Christina (John) Kelly and Melissa (Ed) Jones, and his granddaughter, Madison Jones. He was predeceased by his grandson, Thomas Kelly.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Maine Historical Society, Phoebe Berks Healthcare Center (Wernersville, Pennsylvania.) or to the Lawrence A. Kimball Sports Information Director Endowment Fund through the ‘Cuse Athletics Fund at Syracuse University.

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2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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