ROCK ISLAND, Ill — After more than 30 years of covering sports for the Rock Island Dispatch-Argus, beloved Quad Cities reporter Steve Tappa passed away on Tuesday, June 17. He was 58 years old.
Tappa graduated from Bettendorf High School in 1984 and from St. Ambrose University in 1991. In his decades of working for the newspaper, Tappa covered everyone from pros like the Chicago Bears to local athletes at high schools around the Quad Cities. In recent years, he also worked for Mediacom 22 and the Quad Cities Business Journal.
"You loved him, he was just that kind of guy," former Dispatch colleague Tom Johnston said. "He was a nurturer, he would work with anybody, he would help anybody, he would give anybody the shirt off his back if they needed it. That was just who Steve Tappa was."
"He was a wonderful father, a great husband for many years," Tappa's brother-in-law John Marx said. "He loved people. He loved being around them. He loved his job...a sports writer, a TV guy, and somebody who just loved being around young people and telling the world that there's always good things going on."
A visitation for Tappa will be held on Saturday, June 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home in Davenport. His funeral will be held on Monday, June 24 at noon at Christ the King Chapel at St. Ambrose University.
Tappa was involved with Bettendorf-Pleasant Valley youth baseball for nearly 20 years, including serving as commissioner for several years. In honor of Tappa, BPV baseball will host a pair of memorial games on Friday, June 21 at Devils Glen Park. The first matchup between 4D Holdings and Creative Deck and Fence will start at 5:30 p.m., and the second game between McDonald's and the Bettendorf Optimists will begin at 8 p.m. Players will have special jerseys reading "TAPPA 63" on the back, and 100 pins with the same phrase will be available for players and crowd members. Volunteers will also be collecting donations to help cover expenses for Tappa's family.
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