BATESVILLE, IN — A fixture on the Southeastern Indiana sports scene has passed.
Former Batesville High School teacher, coach, broadcaster, and Ripley County Basketball Hall of Famer Ron Raver passed away Sunday evening following a lengthy illness.
Raver taught Chemistry and coached a variety of sports such as boys’ basketball, cross country, and track and field at Batesville High School.
He also called high school football and basketball on 1039.WRBI for many years.
“Ron Raver brought his knowledge of sports to WRBI by first broadcasting football and basketball games, then by building the highest-rated sports program in Southeastern Indiana, ‘Coaches Corner,'” said former WRBI General Manager Ron Green. “Ron was dedicated to the young men and women in sports in all the area schools, and honored all of the seniors every year by having them on his show at the end of each season.”
Batesville Mayor Mike Bettice was a student manager for the BHS basketball team when Raver served as head coach Paul Ehrman’s assistant.
“Certainly, he is one of those people who is a big part of our community and has been for many, many years,” Bettice said. “He will be sorely missed by all of us. My condolences go out to (Raver’s widow) Sally and her family.”
Ehrman was head coach of the Bulldogs for five years in the early 1970s and hired Coach Raver as an assistant.
“The thing that made Ron and me click…Ron was more easygoing,” Ehrman said. “Ron could converse with the referees easier and better than I did.”
Cecil Ison is the owner-operator of Ison’s Family Pizza in downtown Batesville. His restaurant has sponsored and hosted “Coaches Corner” for a number of years, and he said Coach Raver’s passing leaves a giant hole in the SE Indiana sports community.
“You will probably never find anyone who was a bigger supporter of school sports, high school sports especially, and sports for the kids in general than Ron Raver,” said Ison.
“WRBI and our listeners will miss Coach Raver,” added Green. “Thanks for all you have done for WRBI and sports in Southeastern Indiana.”