By Nick Buglione
Born in Forest Hills, Queens, Arledge moved with his family to Merrick, where he attended Merrick Grammar School, known today as Chatterton Elementary, and later Mepham.
Fellow Mepham alumni described Arledge as a friendly, active and intelligent student who was destined to make his mark in the world.
"He was a very quiet young man, as I recall," said Terese Tepe Weber, a North Babylon resident who graduated one year before Arledge, in 1949. "He was very studious, very courteous and a nice kid," though, she added, he wasn't particularly outgoing. "He kept to himself."
Though he would go on to revolutionize the way sports and news were covered on television, Arledge cut his teeth in journalism at Mepham High.
In his third and fourth years at the school, he served as sports editor of The Buccaneer, the school newspaper. He also participated in a number of extracurricular activities and organizations, including the stamp circle, the Spanish club and the drama club.
"I was a member of the band, and in those days we would play at every football game," said Margaret Knubel Lorenzen. "When we would come off the field, I would always see Roone on the telephone with the newspapers, telling them how the game went. We all found that very interesting."
It was a portent of things to come. After graduating from Columbia University in 1952, Arledge enjoyed a 30-year stint at ABC, where he changed the face of sports and news.
In a speech following his appointment at ABC, Arledge said, "We will be setting the standards that everyone will be talking about and that others in the industry will spend years trying to equal."
He lived up to his words.
Taking over ABC Sports in 1968, Arledge had a direct hand in creating "Monday Night Football" and developed the template that ESPN and other sports news outlets now follow in covering athletic events.
"Under Roone's leadership, we were given instant replay, slow motion...and other such sports television treasures," said David Westin, president of ABC News.
Arledge also started the landmark sports anthology program "Wide World of Sports," and produced all 10 of ABC's Olympic broadcasts. "He made the Olympics into the major international event it is today," Westin said.
In 1977 Arledge became president of ABC News, and in the succeeding years he had an equally significant impact on the broadcast news industry.
Programs such as "Nightline," "World News Tonight" and "20/20" were all Arledge originals. Under his tutelage, broadcast journalists Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters, Ted Koppel and Diane Sawyer became television stars.
"For those of us who had the opportunity to work with Roone, we saw his unique creative genius coupled with an absolute refusal to settle for anything less than the very best," Westin said. "He was a perfectionist."
Arledge's accomplishments in television were widely recognized and frequently honored. During his career he won 37 Emmys and four Peabody Awards and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Sports Illustrated ranked him the third most important figure in the world of sports over the past 40 years, behind Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan.
Arledge, who fought cancer for years, recovered well from his last surgery, according to Westin, though he never fully regained his strength.
North Merrick resident and childhood friend Booker T. Gibson, 72, expressed shock when he heard the news of Arledge's death. "I didn't realize he was ill," he said.
Gibson and other Mepham alumni said they lost contact with Arledge after he graduated from high school and moved out of Merrick.
"I think he died too soon," said Weber. "He did so much for the industry and came so far."
Arledge is survived by his wife, Gigi Shaw Arledge, and four children from a previous marriage.
