With Frank Cignetti, WVU head football coach in the late 1970s, at Old Mountaineer Field.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Mickey Furfari, the fiery columnist who became known as “the dean of West Virginia sports writers” over a career spanning seven decades, died Monday morning. He was 92.

A member of the College Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and five-time West Virginia Sports Writer of the Year, Furfari was inducted into the WVU Hall of Fame in 2006.

He published two volumes of “Mickey’s Mountaineer Memories,” one of which featured NBA legend Jerry West labeling Furfari a “state treasure.”

Basketball coach Bob Huggins said West Virginia “has lost one of its true icons.”

“Mickey cared more about advancing and covering West Virginia sports than anyone,” said Sean McNamara, among those who transcribed Furfari’s syndicated columns during recent years for The Times West Virginian in Fairmont.

Even in declining health, Furfari continued producing opinion pieces—submitting columns handwritten on loose-leaf pages or dictating to staffers on the sports desk.

“He was the hardest worker I’ve ever seen,” McNamara said. “As of a year ago, he was still pumping out about six columns a week at times.

“Very meticulous. Even when his eyesight became diminished, he would re-read his columns on a magnifier in 36-point bold font.”

After suffering a stroke, Furfari spent the past week in Ruby Hospital being visited by his three children, Mike, Lisa and Jane.

“He had a really rough time lately,” said Furfari’s son. “He’s in a much better place.”

While serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Furfari worked as sports editor for the Pacific Stars and Stripes, a position he subsequently held for West Virginia University’s student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum, from 1946-1947.

Furfari also worked for the Associated Press in Huntington and the Charleston Gazette before returning to Morgantown where he made his mark covering the Mountaineers for his hometown newspaper, The Dominion Post, from 1949-1989.

In the years since, Furfari remained outspoken on Mountaineers athletics, alternately championing and lambasting coaches, athletic directors and university presidents.

“He remained opinionated to the end,” McNamara said. “He wasn’t too concerned whether you agreed with him or not.”

Huggins recalled playing youth basketball in the early 1960s when Furfari officiated games. Nearly five decades later, with Huggins in the midst of a hall-of-fame coaching career, it became commonplace for Furfari to ask the opening question at WVU’s postgame news conferences.

“He refereed my basketball games when I was 7, 8 and 9 years old playing games at St. Francis High School and at Spruce Street Methodist Church,” Huggins said. “I was in awe when I saw him because of the admiration my dad had for him.

“I had a really good relationship with Mickey when I played here at West Virginia and that relationship certainly carried on when I came back here as a coach. On behalf of the entire WVU basketball program, our thoughts and sympathies go out to Mickey’s family. People like Mickey don’t come along every day. He was truly a once-in-a-lifetime sports journalist.”

Former Mountaineers football coach Don Nehlen called Furfari “fair and consistent” with his coverage of the program.

“Mickey Furfari lived a great life,” Nehlen said. “The one big thing I can say about Mickey was he did what he loved his entire life. He loved writing about West Virginia and did it all the way until the day he died. That’s very special.”

Furfari’s family announced visitation Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at Hastings Funeral Home with funeral services Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Parish on the WVU campus.