Rod Van Hook, a local radio sportscaster and Pacific Palisades resident, passed away on November 7 in Santa Monica Hospital of heart failure. He was 61, and had battled several serious illnesses in the last three years, including pancreatic cancer, kidney failure and heart disease. Born in South Dakota on July 31, 1948, Rod arrived in California at the age of 3. He attended Corpus Christi School in Pacific Palisades and St. Monica’s High School, then studied at UCLA, where he graduated in 1970. Rod’s one passion was sports, which he played as a youth and which then became his profession as a radio sportscaster. He began his career 40 years ago at KMPC radio, where he worked from 1972-1978. He then moved to KFWB to become a sports anchor from 1979 to 2000. After KFWB, he worked at ESPN radio until 2006. During his time at these stations he won three Golden Mike awards and was honored many times by the Los Angeles Press Club and Associated Press. His final job was at Sports USA radio until early this year, when he could no longer work. Rod was considered the ultimate professional, with a great sense of humor, and even though he loved the Bruins you would never know it from his reporting. He covered the Olympics, Super Bowls, Rose Bowls, the World Series, the L.A. Open, pro and college games and many other sporting events. His knowledge of sports history was tremendous; even after he became so seriously ill, it never failed him. He is survived by his daughter, Kelsey Van Hook, a junior at George Washington University; his 9-year-old son, Chance Van Hook of Burbank; his brother, Perry Van Hook; his former wife, Chris Van Hook of Pacific Palisades; and many friends and colleagues. Services will be held on Saturday, January 2, at 11 a.m. at the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, 15821 Sunset Blvd. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Rod’s memory may be made to the Yosemite Association (P.O. Box 230, El Porto, CA 95318).
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