| Overall UK Wins: 5 | Overall UK Losses: 0 | Win % 100 |
Date of Birth: October 17, 1912
Date of Death: May 3, 1989
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Alma Mater: Xavier [1934]
Notes: Future Coach of Cincinnati
For a generalized listing of officials, please consult this page.
| Date | Matchup | W/L | Score | UK Fouls | Opp Fouls | UK FTA | Opp FTA | UK DQ | Opp DQ | Technicals | Officiating Crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/15/1944 | Wright Field at Kentucky | W | 61 - 28 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 0 | 0 | - | Referee - John Showalter (Georgetown) and Umpire - John Wiethe (Xavier) |
| 2/26/1944 | Ohio at Kentucky | W | 51 - 35 | 15 | 15 | 21 | 17 | 1 | 2 | - | Referee - John Wiethe (Xavier) and Umpire - Jim Beiersdorfer (Cincinnati) |
| 12/18/1945 | Arkansas at Kentucky | W | 67 - 42 | 22 | 17 | 20 | 26 | 0 | 1 | - | Jim Beiersdorfer (Cincinnati) and John Wiethe (Cincinnati) |
| 1/19/1946 | Kentucky at Tennessee | W | 50 - 32 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 0 | - | Referee - Herman Jackson (Murfreesboro) and Umpire - John Wiethe (Cincinnati) |
| 2/16/1946 | Tennessee at Kentucky | W | 54 - 34 | 12 | 19 | 26 | 16 | 0 | 0 | - | John Wiethe (Cincinnati) and Herman Jackson (Murfreesboro, TN) |
Obituary - Cincinnati Enquirer (May 4, 1989)
Democratic Leader Wiethe Dies
by Bob Weston
John "Socko" Wiethe, an attorney who ruled the local Democratic Party for more than three decades, died Wednesday at Jewish Hospital of a blood ailment. He was 76.
Mr. Wiethe, whose gruff demeanor often masked his political savvy, was chairman or co-chairman of he Hamilton County Democratic party for 34 years before he resigned July 9, 1988, citing poor health.
Gov. Richard Celeste, joining in the eulogies, said, "he was a great friend and a great Democrat. Socko Wiethe never lost his enthusiasm for team sports and his favorite was in the arena of politics."
Celeste said he planned to attend the visitation at Imwalle Memorial Funeral Home in St. Bernard on Friday evening.
Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Shannon, a Republican, said "John played politics the way he used to play football in college and in pros - without a face mask."
"John was as tough as they come, but they comb of the moment was always forgotten after the game was over," said Shannon, who was master of ceremonies for a testimonial dinner for Mr. Wiethe in February attended by more than 600.
Mr. Wiethe had fought off several attempts to wrest the party leadership from him - most recent coming in May, 1988, when he was re-elected to another two-year term as party co-chairman.
"A lot of people thought John would go on and on forever," said Tim Burke, a veteran Democratic party leader who had tried to oust Mr. Wiethe in 1986, "This man made a great contribution."
Mr. Wiethe was openly contemptuous of challengers who tried to unseat him as party chairman, saying they were no match for him in raising money for campaigns.
"How much cabbage (money) can they raise?" he often asked. "If you don't have that, you can't compete."
The son of a Camp Washington grocer, he earned his nickname "Socko" at Roger Bacon High School for the hard-hitting way he played football.
He enhanced that reputation in the early 1930s as a fearless football lineman at Xavier University, where he also played basketball and captained both sports in his senior year.
Later, after honing his talents in the minor league, Mr. Wiethe signed a contract with the Detroit Lions at age 26 and was a 195-pound All-Pro guard-linebacker with the Lions from 1939-42. That was before, two-platoon football, when players often had to play offense and defense the full game.
One of his Detroit teammates was Byron "Whizzer" White, now an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
"He was not indestructible, but almost. A terrific competitor, the kind you liked on your side," White recalled in a 1978 Enquirer interview.
From 1946 to 1952, he coached the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team.
Many people never knew the soft heart that lay beneath Wiethe's rough exterior, said Pam Swafford, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
"He was like a father to me," said Swafford, who was executive director of the county Democratic Party for many years under Mr. Wiethe's tutelage.
"I wish more people knew John as I knew him - as a beautiful human being, who liked to do things for people."
Mr. Wiethe, a widower is survived by three daughters, Barbara Wiethe, Kathy Lippert and Jayne Zuberbuhler; a son, Michael; a brother, the Rev. Peter Wiethe; a sister, Mary Schilling; and eight grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Imwalle Memorial Funeral Home, 4811 Vine St., St. Bernard. Mass of Christian burial will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, 7243 Eastlawn Drive, Roselawn.
Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery in St. Bernard.
Memorials may be made to the John A. Wiethe Memorial Scholarship Fund, 1905 Federal Building, Cincinnati, 45202, and designated for either Xavier University or the University of Cincinnati. They also may be made to the Alzheimer Association, 644 Linn St., Cincinnati 45203.
