Thunder family mourns Anne Potter DeLong
Anne Potter DeLong of Rock Island, a member of a newspaper publishing and broadcasting family and a woman who made the Quad-City Thunder into one of minor league basketball's most successful franchises, has died at age 65.
"She had a long-running illness that ended suddenly," her husband, Ed DeLong, said Friday night from Scottsdale, Ariz. He said visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at Wheelan Funeral Home in Rock Island. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Rock Island.
Anne Potter DeLong owned a variety of businesses ranging from clothing stores to travel agencies and served on the boards of numerous area agencies and businesses throughout her 65 years.
She was inducted into the Quad-Cities Business Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a past board member of the Illinois Child Care Association, Visiting Nurses Association, Rock Island County Comprehensive Mental Health, the Rock Island Family YMCA and the Museum of Broadcast Communication in Chicago.
She was vice president of the Rock Island Argus newspaper, which had been in the Potter family for more than a century. She also was president of the Rock Island Broadcasting Co. until it was sold in 1987.
But her most visible venture was a 10-year stint as owner of the Quad-City Thunder, which played for several years at Moline's Wharton Field House until making The Mark of the Quad-Cities its home until the franchise folded last year long with most of the league in which it played.
She was the majority investor in a group that purchased the club in February 1987 and she bought out her partners on the eve of the team's first game that fall. Her husband said she was the first woman to purchase a professional sports franchise. She ended the Continental Basketball Association's longest term of ownership without having realized a profit in any of the team's nine seasons.
She sold the team in 1996 to an ownership group that included Jay Gellerman of Moline.
"She was a perfect lady, a tremendous business leader," he said. "The Thunder was her baby. She was popular with the other CBA owners, and she was great for the Quad-Cities."
But she always put the players and the fans first, which is why she annually lost money on the Thunder, he said.
"It was a community contribution from her perspective. Frankly, she didn't get the support of the community she needed. You can only lose so much money being a good guy," he added.
"It was a little bit different concept with players in the league," Ed DeLong said, speaking of his wife's ownership approach. "She was kind of a mother to them."
Her efforts to help players who had substance-abuse problems are well-documented, including current NBA player Chris Childs, who turned his life around with her help.
"She always had the utmost respect from our players," said former Thunder player Barry Sumpter, who still resides in the Quad-Cities. "When they hear about this, I am sure it will be just like me. They will feel just saddened.
"She was a good lady. You could always go to her. She was never too busy. Sometimes guys got in pickles, but she was easy to talk to. She was genuinely concerned with what was going on with your life."
Rich McArdle served as Thunder general manager from 1987 to 1992. He now works as the sports sales manager for Clear Channel Communications, a group of radio stations that broadcasts the games of Denver-area teams.
"From a management standpoint, she was outstanding," he said. "She was able to put together a program that benefited the fans first. She was an owner and person who understood the importance of letting fans have fun. She let us do things that, at the time, were really not being done in the major leagues, or even minor league sports.
"That was complete entertainment for fans, like bringing in the San Diego Chicken or the LA Lakers' cheerleaders. You go to an NBA game today and that is exactly what they are trying to do. Anne allowed us to do something that was breaking the mold at that time."
Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com.