Media

Sid Rotz

Year Inducted: 1985

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations: Stephen Decatur High School
Millikin University
WDZ/WSOY
US Navy

Biography: Sid Rotz has been on the Decatur sports scene through his days at Stephen Decatur High School and then Millikin University. After graduating from college in 1941, he joined the Navy, working as a flight instructor before flying Hellcat fighters off aircraft carriers in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was highly decorated, flying 64 missions and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for “heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight.”  Beginning in 1953, he broadcast University of Illinois basketball and football – the first 11 years with WDZ. After joining WSOY, he continued that Illinois coverage along with high school basketball and football. Rotz was named to the Millikin University Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 after receiving a radio merit award from the Millikin Quarterback Club in 1968. In 1983 he received a Recognition Award from the Decatur Public Schools’ athletic staff and boosters. He has been a recipient of the IHSA Distinguished Service Award.  Sid Rotz died on April 17, 2009 at the age of 89.  Sid was known for his radio sign-off: “Goodbye and good luck to you all.”