Controvesial Riverside Church Founder Lorch Remembered at Memorial Service

By Zach Braziller
New York Post
June 24, 2012

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/basketball/controvesial_riverside_church_founder_84wpZqTqxXeF4PBs0kAFHI

Family, friends and countless members of the city's basketball community convened upon the Church of the Intercession in Morningside Heights to remember Ernie Lorch, the multimillionaire corporate attorney and controversial founder and director of powerhouse AAU program Riverside Church, at a memorial service Saturday morning.

Lorch passed away at the age of 80 May 14 at a Yonkers nursing home after batting diabetes and growing dementia, among other health issues. He was remembered on Saturday as a caring man who gave to others, who built Riverside Church from scratch into the nation’s top AAU program, who took inner-city youths around the world for basketball tournament.

"Loving memory of all you did" comment is left by Ed Lowe during the memorial ceremony for Riverside Church founder and director Ernie Lorch.

Former Riverside Church player and NBA veteran Albert King delivers a speach during the ceremony.

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“Mr. Ernie Lorch was the greatest man I ever knew because he taught me about life,” said NBA veteran and Riverside player Albert King, who had to hold back tears as he spoke.

Players and coaches from all eras of Riverside Church were on hand Saturday. The large group of supporters included King, longtime talent scouts Howard Garfunkel and Tom Konchalski, former North Carolina standout Brian Reese, longtime friend and Riverside coach Howie Evans and president and founder of Wheelchair Charities Hank Carter, who Lorch closely worked with to make the annual Wheelchair Charities Classic a premier event.

“We always knew he had another family that was equally as important to him,” Lorch’s niece, Anita Norfolk, said.

Lorch was also dogged for years by alleged sexual abuse. He turned Riverside Church into arguably the nation’s elite program before allegations of sexual abuse of a former player led to his resignation in 2002.

Lorch was also indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury for allegedly molesting a New York teenager in Amherst more than 30 years ago, but in November a Westchester judge ruled Lorch wasn’t competent to be extradited to stand trial.

New York City currently has several AAU programs which travel the country during the spring and summer; Lorch started the tradition in the 1980s and 1990s by personally financing such trips. Arguably Lorch’s best team featured Metta World Peace, Elton Brand, Erick Barkley, Andrew Glover and Lamar Odom. Others to pass through the program included Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Chris Mullin, Malik Sealy and Kenny Smith.

“He was not just a man to us,” Evans said. “He was a hero.”

Contact: zbraziller@nypost.com