William R. O'Rourke

William O'Rourke passed away on Wednesday, April 19, 2006. He was born April 28, 1926, to William Robert O'Rourke Sr. and Mary Catherine Johnson O'Rourke in Los Angeles, California. Bill grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Los Angeles City College with a Bachelors Degree in Education. He earned his Masters Degree through graduate work at Pepperdine College, UCLA and USC. He married Bennie Patricia Hines in 1951 and they were blessed with three children. After marriage, Bill moved to the South Bay area where he lived for fifty-four years.

Bill coached Track and Field first at Culver City High School and then at Palos Verdes High School. During his coaching years at Culver City High School, he coached Joe Faust in the High Jump and that took both of them to the 1960 Olympics held in Rome, Italy. After much hard earned success, he took on the challenges of Vice Principal at Rolling Hills High School and then as Dean of Students at Palos Verdes High School. He was very active in community, High School, NCAA and Professional Track and Field events. He helped organize and officiate at many of these events. One of his proudest moments was when the U.S.O.C. selected him to be a Track and Field Official for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

His passions in life included sports, traveling, writing, telling a good story and his family. He loved golf and, combined with his travel, played many golf courses around the world. He liked writing and left his heirs volumes of poetry. One of the poems he left reads:

I hope that when

I've at last been laid,

To my eternal rest

In my funeral brocade

And the coffin's lid

Has been sealed in place,

Over my quiet, unsmiling

And slumbering face,

That I'll be remembered

And greatly admired,

Not by what I've said or done

But by the children I have sired.

He is survived by his loving children, Robert William O'Rourke of Camino, California; Marylynne O'Rourke Pierce of Fredericksburg, Virginia; Michael Ross O'Rourke of Auburn, California; and grandchildren Katie O'Rourke, Erin O'Rourke, Sara O'Rourke, Jason Pierce and Shannon Pierce.

A Memorial Service will be held at Rice Mortuary, 5310 Torrance Blvd