| Overall UK Wins: 1 | Overall UK Losses: 4 | Win % 20 |
Date of Birth: July 2, 1890
Date of Death: September 2, 1953
Hometown: Delaware, OH
Alma Mater: Ohio Wesleyan [1912]
Notes: Coach of Centre College

For a generalized listing of officials, please consult this page.

Obituary - The Marion (OH) Star (September 2, 1953)

Death Claims Ohio Publisher Orville Littick

Noted OWU Alumnus Headed Zanesville News, Radio Interests

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Orville B. Littick, 62, president and general manager of the Zanesville Publishing Co., and vice president of the Southeastern Ohio Broadcasting System, died in Bethesda Hospital today.

His death came only a short time after he had been admitted to the hospital and followed a long illness.

Littick became ill Thanksgiving Day, 1951, and had been inactive in business for most of the time since then.

The Zanesville Publishing Co. published The Zanesville Signal and The Zanesville Times-Recorder. In addition, the firm operates radio station WHIZX and WHIZ-TV.

He became general manager of the publishing company in 1929, and succeeded his father, the late W.O. Littick, as president in 1941.

Born in Muskingum County, he was graduated by Lash High School in 1908 and Ohio Wesleyan University in 1912.

After his graduation from Ohio Wesleyan, where he won letters in all major sports, he became coach and quarterback of one of the top professional football teams of the time, the Shelby Blues. At the same time he was assistant football coach at Ohio Wesleyan.

He became athletic director of Central College in Danville, Ky., in 1915, and athletic director of Beloit College at Beloit, Wis., in 1917. When Ohio Wesleyan celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1941, Littick was named as an end on its mythical "all time" eleven.

His newspaper career began in 1920 when he joined the staff of the Zanesville Publishing Co. He served in many capacities in learning the business from the ground up.

In 1926, he bought the Daily Independent, a newspaper in Murphysboro, Ill., and in 1929 returned as general manager of the Zanesville firm.

He took great interest in civic affairs. He was a past president of the Ohio Society for Crippled Children, the Muskingum County Society for Crippled Children, the Zane Trace Area of the Boy Scouts, and in addition served many other church, charity and civic groups. He was district governor of the Southern Ohio District of Rotary International in 1941-42.

He served as president of the Ohio Select List of Newspapers and as Ohio chairman of the Inland Daily Press Association. He was selected as a member of Sigma Delta Chi, national professional journalism fraternity, in 1950.

He was married to Anne S. Holzmiller in 1916 in Springfield. He leaves his widow; two brothers, Clay Littick of Zanesville and Arthur S. Littick of Hoopeston, Ill.; his mother, Mrs. Laura B. Callander of Delaware; a daughter, Mrs. Homer F. Tobin of Zanesville; a son, William O. Littick of Zanesville; two granddaughters, Lee Anne and Jane Arline Tobin of Zanesville, and a niece, Jane Littick of Hoopeston, Ill.

Orville B. Littick Laid to Rest In Memorial Park Here

Orville B. Littick, 63, widely-known Zanesville newspaper publisher, was laid to rest Saturday afternoon in Memorial Park following funeral services at the Central Presbyterian church.

Rev. A. Dale Sowers paid tribute to Mr. Littick as a generous, public spirited citizen whose inspirational life stands as a challenge to the community to complete the good works he has begun.

Assisting Rev. Mr. Sowers in the service were Dr. William F. Schuler, pastor of Forest Avenue Presbyterian Church and Rev. George Johnson of Evanston, Ill.

Many from out-of-town were among the large gathering at the church, where the body lay in state for an hour before the services. The presses at Zanesville Publishing Company plan, usually roaring at 2:30 in the afternoon, were silent at that hour Saturday. The Signal went to press earlier than usual to permit employees to attend the funeral for Mr. Littick, whose death occurred Wednesday.

Attend Rites

Among the prominent newspaper men from out-of-town who attended the services were Frank Spencer, publisher of The Newark Advocate; William McKinney, publisher of Marietta Times; Gordon K. Bush, publisher of The Athens Messenger; Ernest Sheehan, Robert Amos, Larry Merrick, Stanley and Robert Moorehead and John Peters of The Cambridge Jeffersonian; Ray Dix, publisher of Ravenna-Kent Reocrd and Courier-Tribune; George T. Culbertson, publisher of the Mount Vernon Banner; William Ortel, assistant secretary of the Ohio Newspaper association, and John W. Cullen Jr., of Cleveland, president of the John W. Cullen advertising agency.

Pallbearers, all key personnel of the Zanesville Publishing Company were Francis Dosch, Valle Cotter, Earl C. Schaeffer, Orrin Pearson, Clair C. Stebbins, Robert M. Frame and Kenneth Klein.

Honorary pallbearers were: Harold Tom, Bernad Mast, E.B. Allen, William Cover, Frank Talley, Ed Moore, Clarence Graham, Al Zinn, William Murphy, Lowell Luther, Donald Summers, Fred Johnson and H.C. Barrick.

Mr. Littick died Wednesday.

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