Just like so many of us, ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm is mourning the loss of live sports during this time of quarantine.
But now, she is also dealing with the loss of her own father.
On Thursday (May 7,) Storm’s father Mike Storen passed away at the age of 84 after a grueling battle with cancer. He died at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
“If you knew my dad, you knew not only the profound impact he had on the sports industry, but also on the people he encountered,” Storm wrote in part in a touching Instagram post alongside a pic of her and her father during happier days. “He was creative, larger-than-life, relentlessly positive, a fierce leader, inspiring, a forward thinker and above all, my greatest supporter.”
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She continued, “It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I share that Mike Storen, loving father, grandfather, husband, proud member of the Fighting Irish family, and renowned sports executive, passed away today due to his battle with a rare form of cancer. I’m so proud of my dad’s legacy – as a distinguished member of the US Marines he helped launch the now-famous Toys for Tots program – and then forged a decades long sports career, as an executive for teams such as the Baltimore Bullets, Cincinnati Royals, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, Memphis Sounds, Atlanta Hawks and baseball’s Houston Astros as well as football’s Memphis Grizzlies and the IPFL.”
Throughout his career, Storen had served as a former ABA commissioner and also worked in sports marketing. He also served as general manager of the Indiana Pacers and Kentucky Colonels and president of the Atlanta Hawks.
According to the New York Post, Storen is survived by wife Lynn; sons Mark and Duke and daughter Hannah by his first wife, Hannah; two stepdaughters, Susan Duncan and Lisa Roberts; and 14 grandchildren.
“Rest in peace, Dad,” Storm concluded. “You will be missed in so many ways. I love you.”