Repko, who was 58 years old, worked seven years at The Oakland Press before leaving the company nearly three years ago because of illness. He was a longtime sports editor for the Ypsilanti Press newspaper before the paper folded in the late 1990s.
Obituary
Age 58, former sports editor of The Ypsilanti Press and a journalist for more than 35 years, died Friday, December 31, 2010. He joined The Ypsilanti Press as a sports writer in 1974 and became sports editor in 1976, a post he held until the newspaper closed in June 1994. Since 2000, he was a sports copy editor for The Oakland Press in Pontiac, where he was also a baseball columnist. He was born March 21, 1952 in Danbury, CT, the son of Michael L. and Patricia A. (Saunders) Repko. In 1955 the family moved to Ypsilanti, where he was raised and educated. He attended Prospect/Adams Elementary School and East Junior High School before graduating with honors in 1970 from Ypsilanti High School, where he participated in varsity sports, the school newspaper and yearbook, theater productions, student government, band and many other extra-curricular activities. He attended Michigan State University, where he majored in journalism, receiving a BA degree in 1974, while also serving as a staffer for The State News student newspaper and a student manager for the MSU football team. He began working at The Ypsilanti Press as a part-time weekend reporter while still in college, then joined the newspaper full-time as a sports writer the day after his final class at MSU. For the next 20 years, he took pride in covering all kinds of sports "from Little League to the pros," as he liked to say, and specialized in covering local high schools and Eastern Michigan University. He won numerous awards throughout his tenure at The Press. Repko never made a secret that, when it came to sports, baseball was his first love. He expertly covered baseball at all levels throughout his career and was a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), which qualified him to vote in the annual elections for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. He covered EMU in the 1975 and 1976 College World Series in Omaha, NE, the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 playoffs and World Series and 1987 playoffs and often began his summer vacation by attending the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He also loved going to the Tigers' spring training camp in Lakeland, FL, whenever he could. When The Ypsilanti Press closed, he became a correspondent for The Associated Press bureau in Detroit. For the next six years, he worked numerous assignments for AP, including coverage of all Detroit professional teams (especially the Tigers and Red Wings) and state college sports. He joined The Oakland Press full-time in November 2000 and remained there the rest of his career, mainly as a copy editor and page designer. He also wrote a Sunday baseball column and ranked major league teams weekly throughout the season. His interests ranged far beyond sports, however. He loved the arts, particularly all kinds of music and musical theater. Indeed the walls of his home were decorated with posters from shows he had seen on Broadway. He also loved to read, especially histories and biographies. And he loved debating (many would say arguing) current events and politics. He was preceded in death by his father, Michael, in 1987, his mother, Patricia, in 2001 and a brother, Michael Earl, in 1988. He is survived by: his sister-in-law, Iris Noren and nephew, Bradley Earl Repko of Elk Grove, CA; two aunts, Betty Repko and godmother, Gloria Traisci, both of Danbury, CT; and cousins, Dian Traisci (Bob) Marandola, Cathy Repko (Steve) Rickard, Dan Traisci, Marybeth (Jim) Manley, Matt (Jodi) Traisci and Karen Traisci, all of Connecticut, Jim Repko of Carmel, CA, Joanie (Tom) Hefferan of Tulsa, OK, Donna Repko of Cambridge, MA and Edward (Sonya) Traisci of Blaine, MN. Among his most special friends are Pat and Tony English of CA, Pat and Lee Hancock of Winter Haven, FL, and their daughter, Lori (Chuck) Dirks of Ypsilanti and Gail Getz of Belleville. The funeral service will be 3 p.m. Friday, January 7, 2011 at Stark Funeral Service with Pastor Gordon Moore officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 12 noon until time of service Friday. Please sign his guest book at starkfuneral.com.
