As a two-time Olympian, Harlow Rothert was invited to run a leg of the cross-country Olympic Torch Relay prior to the 1996 Atlanta Games. But after a bout of cellulitis put him in the hospital for nine weeks, Rothert found himself unable even to walk. Undaunted, he learned to use an aluminum walker, practicing four times a day on the street in front of his Menlo Park home. A local hardware store outfitted the walker with a special sheath to hold the torch, and on May 3, 1996, Rothert proudly covered the 1.2-mile distance.
That was the last in a host of amazing athletic achievements by Rothert, who died on August 13 at the age of 89. At Stanford, where he is the only athlete in University history to claim All-American honors in three major sports, he lettered in football, basketball and track. He scored three touchdowns in the 1930 Big Game (Stanford beat Cal, 41-0) and was twice captain of the basketball team. But his real strength was the shot put: He won the NCAA title three years in a row and set the world shot put record in 1930. He earned a spot at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928 and the Los Angeles Games in 1932, where he won the silver medal. A three-time inductee in the Stanford Sports Hall of Fame, Rothert was named in 1978 as one of the five greatest athletes in University history.
As a trial lawyer, Rothert specialized in civil litigation and dispute resolution. He joined the San Francisco firm of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro in 1937 and, after two years in the Marine Corps during World War II, left to co-found Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft in 1946. He also taught at Stanford Law School and Hastings College of Law.
Rothert maintained strong links to Stanford. During law school, he moonlighted as secretary of the Alumni Association. He was a football season ticket holder, and for 50 years he officiated at campus track and field events. Shortly before his death, he had volunteered to be 1930 class correspondent for Stanford magazine.
Rothert is survived by his wife, Jessie Calderwood Rothert, '41; his two children, Harlow P. Jr. and Steven, '63; and five grandchildren.
