(File Photo) Dave Poe at his desk on the occasion of his retirement from The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, where he was sports editor, in 2014. Poe , 71, passed away on Sunday.

PARKERSBURG — Dave Poe, a long-time sports editor for The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, passed away on Sunday.

Poe, 71, covered sports and news for nearly four decades before retiring in November 2014, starting his career at the News, then The Charleston Gazette and The Marietta Times before returning to the News.

“I thought a lot of him,” said Mike Hayden, the football coach at Parkersburg South High School from 1970-1983.

Poe was among Hayden’s first football managers when he coached at South.

“We became good friends because of the relationship we had,” Hayden said. “That carried over to his professional life.”

Poe was an exceptional sportswriter and knowledgeable about what he wrote, according to Hayden.

“He did his job professionally, and he really cared,” Hayden said.

Poe was among the founders of the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame, said Jim Wharton, the retired sportscaster at WTAP television and Poe’s friend.

“I always looked forward to Sunday’s newspaper and the sports section and reading his columns, especially about WVU,” Wharton said.

Among Wharton’s Poe stories was when he, Poe and Nick Scala with The Charleston Gazette were covering a WVU football game. Poe became extremely ill, perhaps something he ate, and couldn’t go to the game, but watched it on television, Wharton said.

“He covered it by watching it on TV,” Wharton said. “Nick got the quotes for him.”

Poe worked for the News before going to Charleston, then returned in 1983 and worked for The Times covering city hall and sports. He was hired in 1987 by the late Bob Robinson, who was editor of the News, to cover sports at WVU.

Local sports was his forte and one of the best times was in 2003 when Parkersburg South, his alma mater, won its first state football title.

“He really was an excellent writer. He really was,” Ken Davis, a retired teacher, sportswriter and the announcer at Parkersburg South High School, said. “He was also very opinionated.”

Davis said he became acquainted when Poe was a teaching intern in social studies at Washington Junior High School.

Poe’s time in Charleston changed his perspective on the news, Davis said.

“He became more motivated to find the big story,” Davis said.

While Poe was knowledgeable in about every sport he covered, he particularly enjoyed wrestling and knew much about the sport, Davis said.

“He was a wrestling guru,” Davis said.

News and Sentinel sports reporter Jay W. Bennett described Poe as “caring and compassionate.”

“Whether it was local sports, Mountaineer football or his beloved Chicago White Sox, Dave always had a passion for people and athletics,” Bennett said. “Few cared more about the area and community than Dave Poe, who definitely was one of the good ones.”

Poe for two years after he retired worked with Dave Hall, who has called Williamstown High School sports for the past 15 years. Hall has announced more than 600 games.

Poe did the color analysis, quiet at first then adjusting to his new role, Hall said.

“He did a real good job,” Hall said.

It took a while for the persona of a newspaper reporter to wear away.

In his first time in the booth, Poe took detailed notes with the intention to write a story, but said it was too stressful and he was going to leave, Hall said.

“I said ‘Brother, we don’t do that,'” Hall said.

Poe adapted and was quite good, Hall said.

“He really enjoyed himself,” Hall said.

Poe was for the kids, Hall said. He never wrote anything derogatory about the kids, although it may have been a different story with WVU sports, Hall said.

“He was positive with the kids,” Hall said. “Never, never a bad word.”