{"id":1164735,"date":"2026-02-24T01:15:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/?p=1164735"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:15:48","slug":"funeral-arrangements-set-for-tennessee-sports-reporter-wes-rucker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/funeral-arrangements-set-for-tennessee-sports-reporter-wes-rucker\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeral arrangements set for Tennessee sports reporter Wes Rucker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The funeral<\/a> for longtime sports reporter Wes Rucker<\/a> will be held in Knoxville on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n

The service for family and close friends will be at 3 p.m. at Rose Funeral & Cremation Broadway. Receiving of family and friends will follow from 4-6 p.m.<\/p>\n

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the family’s GoFundMe or to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Online obituary and memory page are available at rosefuneraltn.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rucker, 43, died in a car crash<\/a> in Knoxville on Feb. 19. He was a witty award-winning journalist who covered University of Tennessee athletics<\/a> since 2000. He was a graduate of Knox Catholic High and University of Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Rucker left behind wife Lauren, son Hank, a baby girl due in May and countless admirers of his work.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

GoFundMe for Wes Rucker’s family soars in donations<\/h2>\n

Tennessee fans, media figures and the general public have responded to Rucker’s tragic death with overwhelming generosity.<\/p>\n

As of Feb. 23, more than $732,000 has been raised via a GoFundMe<\/a> established to help support Rucker’s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this recent time of a job transition, Wes did not currently have a life insurance policy,” says the GoFundMe page, which was organized by Molly Rucker, Wes’ sister. “All funds raised will go directly toward the ongoing needs of the Lauren and the kids in this time of transition and uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

A representative from GoFundMe confirmed the fundraiser was verified and set up by the family.<\/p>\n

The original $100,000 goal was surpassed within two hours. And the goal has been extended multiple times as donors have responded in mass. The new goal is $850,000.<\/p>\n

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email <\/em>adam.sparks@knoxnews.com<\/em><\/a>. X, formerly known as Twitter<\/em>@AdamSparks<\/em><\/a>. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at<\/em>knoxnews.com\/subscribe<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the\u00a0SEC Unfiltered newsletter,\u00a0delivered straight to your inbox.<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Wes Rucker funeral set after Tennessee sports reporter’s tragic death<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/funeral-arrangements-set-tennessee-sports-011548784.html<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The funeral for longtime sports reporter Wes Rucker will be held in Knoxville on Feb. 25. The service for family and close friends will be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1164736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1164735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1164736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}