Michael J. “Mike” Farabaugh, a longtime sports reporter for the Evening Sun, died June 25 at Stella Maris Hospice due to complications from a fall. Mr. Farabaugh, a Rosedale resident, was 80 years old.
“Mike was a very personable guy and a hard-working, accurate reporter,” said former Evening Sun sportswriter and colleague Paul McMullen.
“This was before cell phones, the internet and websites, and it took a lot of effort to, say, find out the correct spelling of a player’s name,” McMullan said, “and he was very good at it.”
The son of Edwin Farabaugh, a parts manager at an auto dealership, and Ann Farabaugh, a real estate agent, Michael James Farabaugh was born in Baltimore and raised in Rosedale.
Mr. Farabaugh was 16 years old when he enrolled at St. Charles College and Seminary in Catonsville.
He received his associate’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg in 1963 and his bachelor’s degree in Latin and philosophy in 1965.
While in seminary, he served as a camp counselor and assistant director at Camp Merrick, which is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
A graduate of Mount St. Mary’s College, he taught French and coached junior and senior varsity basketball at the former Towson Catholic High School from 1965 to 1974 before joining the Evening Sun athletics department.
Farabaugh covered high school sports and the old Baltimore Colts.
According to his family, he was at the old Memorial Stadium to cover a Colts game in 1976 when a disgruntled MTA bus driver flew his Piper Cub plane into the upper level of the stadium after the game ended.
“High school and high school sports were a big deal. There was a fierce rivalry between The Sun, the Evening Sun and the News American. It was very lively,” McMullen said.
Mr. McMullen first met Mr. Farabugg while working as a freelancer for the Capital newspaper in Annapolis in the 1970s.
“When I came into the Evening Sun newsroom in 1981, Mike was at the desk and he was very patient with me.”
The two became close friends and both were members of the Association of Christian Journalists, an association made up of members of the Evening Sun staff.
“We just loved drinking beer,” McMullen said with a laugh.
Mike Klingaman, a feature reporter for the Baltimore Sun, was a friend for 50 years.
“I worked with Mike throughout his entire career at the Evening Sun and Sun and he was a consummate professional, a hard-working reporter and a true gentleman who held his own among a rowdy pack of sports reporters. His tongue-in-cheek sense of humor made readers laugh and wince at the same time,” Klingaman said in an email.
The last time the Orioles won the World Series, in 1983, Mr. Farabaugh wrote the front page.
It begins like this: “Scott McGregor’s shutout pitch against the Phillies in Game 5 of the World Series erased memories of 1979, the year the Phillies lost to Pittsburgh despite leading 3-1. McGregor allowed five hits but struck out six to help lead the Orioles to their third world championship in the past 17 years.”
After the Evening Sun ceased publication in 1995 and its staff was merged into the Sun, Farabaugh was put in charge of the courts in Carroll and Harford counties.
He retired in 2001 and obtained his real estate license.
From 2001 until his second retirement in 2017, he worked for Long & Foster, Re/Max First Choice Real Estate and Home Selling Assistance.
According to his family, Farabaugh always remained a sports fan and enjoyed rooting for the Orioles and Ravens. He also liked watching “Jeopardy.”
Funeral services were held July 1 at Evans Life Celebration Home in Parkville, with burial in Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Suzanne Jean Letterman; three sons, Michael J. Farabaugh II of Stuart, Fla., Keith Farabaugh of Timonium and Brad Farabaugh of Parkland, Fla.; two daughters, Christine Clevenger of Sparks and Heather Farabaugh of Baltimore; and eight grandchildren. His previous marriage ended in divorce.
