Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994                   TAG: 9403040097
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: jack bogaczyk
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MCLELLAND WORE HIS HEART, `GUTS' ON HIS SLEEVE

"Jack, I'd like you to do something," the sports editor said from his desk a few feet away. The Roanoke rookie, figuring he'd be heading out on some story of import, walked over. McLelland reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of bucks.

"Go over to the restaurant across the street," he said. "Get me a fried egg sandwich on toast, with a pickle, please. . . . And don't forget the pickle."

I didn't, but I obviously didn't handle some other assignments as well. McLelland and I had several very loud, red-faced arguments about how stories should be written. On a couple of occasions, he called me "Peahead," although he may have thought about replacing the first "a" in that word with an "e." However, he always used "please" and "thanks" in the same paragraph with "peahead."

He also always apologized. Through his glasses, Bob saw his little corner of the world as rose-colored. In my more than 25 years in journalism, Bob was perhaps as different as anyone I've gotten to know well. He always concerned himself more with the people than the story.

If hard-edged scribes found that upsetting, imagine how they felt when they realized that style was exactly why he got so many stories.

Many people called him "Guts," and it's a nickname he often wore on his sleeve. In recent years, it became an even more appropriate monicker for a man who always was more of a lover than a fighter.

Bob died Thursday. He had battled cancer as he did strokes, a heart attack and bypass surgery in the past 15 years. Could he have written this, he wouldn't. Bob didn't ask for much, except dedication. So, a group of his friends and admirers decided to dedicate something to him.

The Bob McLelland Memorial Scholarship fits the man. It will support deserving youngsters, as a sandlot football coach of almost five decades obviously had. It's a local grant, at Roanoke College, his alma mater. Bob's intense interest in and coverage of local and regional sports was a personal commitment that this newspaper still is trying to tackle.

A 20-person committee, led by Bill "Tank" Stephens and Paul Dotson, decided to try to endow a scholarship in Bob's name. The group is a cross section from McLelland's life, ranging from men who played peewee ball for him to those who became his professional pals.

"Bob has received many deserving honors," Stephens said, "but this was something we thought he deserved. We wanted to honor him, and this was the best way we knew. Bob helped a lot of people, and we hope the scholarship will help others in his name."

Stephens said the McLelland Scholarship Committee needs $100,000 to endow the grant at Roanoke College, where McLelland graduated in 1949 and worked as a sports publicist, too. The committee members have made financial commitments in excess of $40,000 to the scholarship, without outside solicitation. Now, they're seeking contributions to finish the job.

The scholarship is to be awarded annually. Stephens said the guidelines for potential recipients have not been established. "People can be sure," he said, "that it will go to a person who best exemplifies what we feel Bob has stood for over the years."

Contributions should be sent to the Bob McLelland Scholarship Fund, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem 24153. All contributions are tax deductible. All contributions are going to a very worthy cause.

They named the football field at Victory Stadium for Bob a few years back, and it probably would take 120 yards to list those who knew him and those he touched, whether he grabbed your face mask or edited your copy.

To those who contribute to the McLelland Scholarship, you deserve to be thanked the way he would do it. So, here's to you, as Bob finished his memos to us:

Thanks. McL.