Shortly after World War II, Mike Surkalo made his way to Butler.

His legacy never left.

Surkalo, the sports editor of the Butler Eagle from 1946 until his retirement in 1985, died Thursday morning at Westmoreland County Hospital in Greensburg.

He was 90 years old.

"Mike was revered here," said longtime bowler and friend Dwight Crowe. "He was an icon. Everybody knew Mike Surkalo."

Surkalo served in World War II and came to Butler to begin his career as a sports editor after working briefly for the Kittanning Leader Times and Franklin News-Herald.

Surkalo said at a 1972 testimonial dinner in his honor that he intended to stay in Butler for only a year, but "people in Butler treated me so well that I didn't want to go."

"The people were very friendly and helpful," Surkalo said in an article commemorating Butler County's 200th birthday in 2000. "Part of it was the times. It was after World War II and you met a lot of ex-GIs."

In the years to follow, Surkalo met a lot of people himself.

Steve Sybert, a sports writer with Surkalo from 1978-81, said he "established relationships with people all over the county.

"Mike was so well-known. He was a fixture in the sports community. He put in extremely long hours to get the job done, which is pretty common for a sports editor at a smaller newspaper.

"Sometimes we would be sitting in the office late in the evening answering phones and he would tell me stories about Butler County sports legends such as (Terry) Hanratty, the Sauls and Ronnie Kline.

"There aren't too many guys like Mike around anymore," Sybert added.

Current Eagle news copy editor Jim Morandini was a sports writer under Surkalo for the final four years of the latter's career. Morandini succeeded Surkalo as sports editor.

"Providing coverage for all sports ... he dedicated himself to it," Morandini said. "He never thought about all the time he was putting in — putting the paper out in the morning, covering events and taking phone calls at night — he did it all."

Surkalo was known for giving publicity to the "minor" sports, not just football and basketball.

"Anything going on in sports, you'd see Mike there," Crowe said. "Fast-pitch softball on the Island, Franklin Field, golf tournaments — he never missed anything."

Surkalo attended Butler Quarterback Club meetings and covered numerous athletic banquets.

"The guy was never home," said friend and former sports broadcaster Ed Wadding. "He was so involved in the community.

"He did a feature on (Olympic swimmer) Eric Namesnik when the kid was in seventh or eighth grade. Mike knew these things."

Wadding said Surkalo helped him gain publicity for the Butler Area Midget Football League.

"I was put in charge of publicity for that league and I asked Mike for some guidance," he said. "He showed me what to do and how to do it, sat down with me and drew up an outline.

"He told me if I gave him the right information, he'd run it. And he did."

Earl Stoops worked in the Eagle composing room for 43 years, 38 of which were spent with Surkalo.

"Mike was sports 24 hours a day," Stoops said. "He was a good person and an easy guy to work with. He cared very deeply about his work.

"If we were short a few inches of copy on a given day, he'd walk back to his desk and come back a few minutes later with a story ready to fill it. It was uncanny how he did that."

Stoops said Surkalo had opportunities to leave Butler and work for larger newspapers, but he never looked at such a move."He loved Butler, loved the Eagle and cared about local sports," Stoops said.Long after his retirement, Surkalo continued to pick up his daily paper at the Eagle. He worked on special assignments for the newspaper until 1992."Mike was a classic gentleman as well as a great local sports writer," Eagle general manager Ron Vodenichar said. "He sought me out as soon as I arrived in Butler to learn what kind of a sports fan I might be."Even in retirement, he worried about the local kids getting the best coverage possible. It was a pleasure to know him."Surkalo was true to his word as well. In 1960, he said he would walk to Pittsburgh if the Pirates won the National League pennant. He walked from Butler to Forbes Field for the World Series that year.While he was an avid bowler, Surkalo didn't arrive at the lanes because of the sport, Crowe said."It was the people. He wanted to be there interacting. That was important to Mike," Crowe said.Longtime Butler sports broadcaster Jim Lokhaiser described Surkalo as "old-school, who did his reporting the hard way.""He was a consummate professional who stood up for the local guy. He was very good to the sandlot sports," Lokhaiser said.Surkalo used to wait outside the Eagle building at night for high school basketball coaches to turn in their box scores to him."The Penn Township coach didn't show up one night because he was upset with his team's play and called for an immediate practice after the game," Crowe recalled."Mike let him know how late he stood outside waiting for him and that he wouldn't do it again — and it never happened again."Surkalo said the best team he ever covered was Butler High's undefeated football team of 1950. Walter Lonchena played center on that team."Mike Surkalo never missed a game and never had a bad thing to say about anybody or anything," Lonchena said. "He was one of the good guys, a good-natured guy who was always fair in his reporting."I think he did a writeup about every guy on that team."Surkalo covered all of Hall of Fame football coach Art Bernardi's teams at Butler."I admire and deeply respect that man," Bernardi said. "He always kept the proper perspective in writing about kids."There was no better person at promoting high school athletics. Mike was never negative in his reporting, regardless of how successful or unsuccessful our teams were, and he gained so much respect in this community as a result."He had so much knowledge of Western Pennsylvania high school athletics. It was always a pleasure to sit down and talk to him," Bernardi added.Crowe struggled to summarize his feelings about Surkalo."Any words I come up with would underrate him," Crowe said. "We've lost a legend."

Here is a look at the career of retired Butler Eagle sports editor Mike Surkalo, who died Thursday at age 90:• Butler Eagle sports editor, 1946-85• Co-founder of Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame, 1966• Inducted into Pennsylvania American Legion Hall of Fame, 1982• Inducted into Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame, 1985• Charter inductee into Butler County Bowling Association Hall of Fame, 1995• Inducted into Butler Football Hometown Heroes, 2005• First president of Butler Bowling Association• Commissioner of Butler Eagle County League and American Legion Baseball• President of Butler City Fast-Pitch Softball League