David Montgomery, president of the Phillies, described Mr. O'Rourke as a terrific journalist and "just a gracious guy who had a good word for everybody."
Montgomery noted that O'Rourke would often arrive in Clearwater, Fla., to cover spring training even before some of the team's executives.
"He was sort of the signal," Montgomery said. "When I heard Jack O'Rourke reporting from Clearwater, I got excited because I knew it was right around the corner."
Butler noted that Mr. O'Rourke was one of the few staffers left who were at KYW when the station changed to an all-news format in the 1960s. "Jack was a terrific guy," Butler said.
Mr. O'Rourke was noted for "his grin and the twinkle in his eye," KYW newscaster John Ostapkovich said on-air Saturday morning.
"He was always in a good mood," KYW sports reporter Tom Maloney said in an interview. ". . . Obviously, he loved what he does, or what he did."
There had been no indication that anything was wrong with Mr. O'Rourke, colleague Ron Corbin said.
"I talked to him from the Phillies game [Friday], not only on the air but before the game, too," Corbin said. "He was talking about covering the rest of the weekend and a couple of games during the coming week."
"Jack was one of the most kind, caring people I think I've ever met," Corbin said. "I don't think I ever saw Jack mad at anything or anyone."
"If you came into work and you were having a downer of a day, a couple of minutes with Jack and everything was just fine.
Mr. O'Rourke, who was completing his 15th year covering the Phillies for the station, was in "retirement mode" of sorts, Butler said, so he covered weekend games.
During his KYW career, he covered the 76ers and the Flyers as well, his colleagues recalled.
