We have lost another great one.

I was saddened to hear today of the loss of former Wisconsin State Journal sportswriter Tom Butler, who covered Badger football and basketball for 25 years and also served as the sports information director for the old Wisconsin State University Conference, now called the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, for nearly three decades.

A personable man of great integrity, Butler died Monday of a heart attack at the age of 84. He was certainly a role model for a generation of sportswriters and will be missed.

Tom retired in 1987 after 37 years as a journalist, 34 of them at the State Journal. But he continued to work with the WSUC for another decade.

Along with retired sportswriter Don Lindstrom, who was a legendary reporter covering high school sports for the State Journal, Tom Butler was responsible for my becoming a sportswriter and in particular covering high school sports. Tom covered the WIAA state boys' basketball tournament for 34 years and the stories he regaled of the games and personalities were a treat.

I got to know him when I began working for the State Journal in 1984 as a student. Tom interviewed me for a position as a "six-pointer", working on the copy desk and taking prep phone calls and doing rewrites. My respect for him grew even greater after I began working for the University of Wisconsin Sports Information Office later that year.

But I really got to know Tom after I was hired in 1992 to work with the WIAAC, handling publicity for the NCAA Division III conference's women's sports. I had the pleasure of spending time with Tom every Monday for more than five years as we produced a weekly press release for our respective leagues.

I couldn't have found a better mentor or friend. He was a wonderful storyteller and quick with a quip. As a budding sportswriter, I could ask him questions about anything and everything and his patience was tremendous.

He was from a generation of journalists who preferred to tell the story and not be part of it. He also made you feel like what you did was important, no matter if you were a highly decorated peer or someone just breaking into the business.

Tom was a Madison native who graduated from East High School and from the UW-Madison. He also served in the Navy during World War II. But he was most proud of being a Badger fan.

His knowledge of UW sports was legendary. It was always a treat to read his columns, especially due to his historical insight. An autographed copy of his book, Field House Echoes, published in 2003, has a prominent place in my sports library.

At this time, funeral arrangements are pending at the Cress Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Road. But I'm sure Tom's memory will be honored on Wednesday at the annual Madison Sports Hall of Fame banquet at the Monona Terrace. Tom was inducted into the Hall four years ago, only the second sportswriter to be accorded such an honor.

The WIAC also honored him when it established The Tom Butler Award, which has been presented annually by the conference since 1998 and is voted on by the conference's sports information directors. The award is given to a representative of the print or electronic media who is considered to have provided outstanding coverage to WIAC athletics.

Few did it better and none more honorably.