Tragedy nearly struck during the memorial service events for Andy Rooney, when his college roommate Bob Ruthman was stricken with a heart attack and was initially reported to have died based on an announcement by Andy’s son Brian Rooney.
The 60 Minutes icon reached the end of his own life four days ago at the age of 92, just one month after taping his final television segment.
Rooney’s old friend, who attended the funeral in a wheelchair, collapsed in a bathroom of the Century Club in New York City, where a luncheon was being held as part of the memorial service.
According to TMZ, who first broke the story, paramedics were able to revive the man who attended Colgate University with Andy in the 1940’s, and he has been transported to a New York hospital where he is being treated in an intensive care unit.
Rooney mentioned his old friend in his 2003 book Years of Minutes. In a chapter about death and dying, Andy said, “I worry about death a lot–mine and everyone else’s. My old college roommate, Bob Ruthman, used to worry that they’d find a cure for cancer the day after he died of it.”
Andy added his own worst fear, “I hate the thought that they’re going to find a cure for death the day after I die.”
Photo: WENN