NAIA Hall of Famer Ruter Dies at 91

Story written by Jennie Rees of the Courier-Journal

Charlie Ruter, a prominent fixture for decades in Kentucky high school sports and the national track and field scene, died at his Fern Creek home Saturday evening from kidney failure. He was 91.

"They wanted him to go on dialysis, but he said at 91 he was not going on dialysis," said Ruth Evelyn Wise Ruter, his wife of 67 years.

Ruter, who spent more than 30 years as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Jefferson County school system, was not as well-known to the casual sports fan as local icons such as Paul Hornung and Pee Wee Reese, but his behind-the-scenes contributions cannot be overstated, said longtime colleague and friend Gene Rhodes.

"In the athletic and sports fraternity, maybe not in the general public, Charlie was well-known and well-respected for what he did, specifically in track and field," Rhodes said last summer after the first of several hospitalizations for Ruter. "But he had an interest in all sports."

"No doubt," agreed Julian Tackett, commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and a man who knew Ruter for 33 years. "… Between basketball and track and field, he's probably touched more lives than any person affiliated with high school sports.

"When you get into his influence in the track area, it's worldwide."

Ruter was official scorer for the Kentucky boys' Sweet 16 basketball tournament from 1963 (and the girls since 1992) into his 80s. He was announcer for some of the country's premier track meets for decades and worked as an official as late as 2007 at the USA Masters outdoor championships.

Ruter also was official scorer for the Kentucky Colonels in the old American Basketball Association and was the scorer for every NCAA Tournament game ever played in Freedom Hall.

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