Penn State has lost one of its treasures.

Lou Prato, the school’s foremost historian on athletics and the first director of the all-sports museum (2002-15), passed away rather unexpectedly last week at the age of 87.

His funeral service was Monday.

Athletic Director Pat Kraft called Prato “the authority on all things” about PSU sports history and added “there will never be another Lou Prato,” and he’s right.

Prato wrote the “Penn State Football Encyclopedia” in 1998 – 654 pages – and it turns out he was just getting warmed up.

The prolific author wrote another six books and was working on his eighth at the time of his death.

Prato loved researching, writing about and talking Penn State history.

He was a friend to all who covered the Nittany Lions.

Need a quote about anything that happened in the old days? Prato was the go-to contact.

He had so much information and could easily veer in different directions, but that made the interactions all the more enlightening and fun.

Just this past December, after Penn State drew SMU in the College Football Playoff, Prato was tracing the only other matchup between the teams — in the 1948 Cotton Bowl, when race relations in Dallas necessitated that the Lions stay on a Naval base outside the city.

Prato knew or knew those who knew all the coaches over the last 100 years — from Bob Higgins to Joe Bedenk, Rip Engle to Joe Paterno, Bill O’Brien to James Franklin.

In fact, when Franklin wasn’t sure he wanted to make the commitment of participating in the popular Wednesday Quarterback Club luncheon, it was Prato who was part of a contingent to smartly convince him of its tradition.

He also passionately researched the origin of the “We Are Penn State” chant, which was spearheaded by PSU cheerleaders in the 1970s.

As a youngster growing up in Indiana PA, his love affair with Penn State began after he saw his first game at Beaver Field in 1955.

Penn State beat Syracuse that day, 21-20, in a matchup that featured Jim Brown and Lenny Moore, the two greatest players to ever step foot on Beaver Field (and most other fields).

Prato attended Penn State and graduated in 1959.

As sports editor of The Daily Collegian, he participated in the annual “Blood Bowl,” between the staffs of the Collegian and the Pitt News on Saturday mornings before the real game. (Please mention this to Franklin when the subject of the lost rivalry comes up).

Prato spent 40 years as a news director in the TV industry (mainly Detroit and Dayton) and taught at Northwestern, all the while maintaining his Penn State ties.

While covering the 1968 Orange Bowl vs. Kansas, he was standing with Paterno at the Miami Airport afterward when Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell approached and said, “I heard you (Paterno) are interviewing with the Steelers.”

Prato had a national story on his hands, but because of his friendship with Paterno, he didn’t report it.

Tim Curley made the perfect choice by anointing Prato to direct the PSU museum as he was able to combine his knowledge and passion to connect with Nittany Lions’ fans while still practicing journalism.

“From the moment I met Lou, I could tell how much sharing the stories of Penn State meant to him and how important it was to him to keep those stories alive,” Kraft said.

Prato and his wife, Carole, would have been married 66 years on Friday. They had three children and multiple grandchildren.

He counted himself fortunate. He once said: “If someone had come to me when I was an undergraduate, as much a fan covering the team as anything, and said ‘You’re going to be the Penn State historian,’ I’d have said, ‘Where the hell do I sign?'”

In later years, after retirement from the museum, Prato would attend the weekly press conferences and sit in the back with Fran Fisher. I was fortunate to join them for lunch, along with Mike Poorman, a few times.

The stories, not just about Penn State, flowed.

During one session, in 2012, Fisher talked about witnessing the last three home runs of Babe Ruth’s career at Forbes Field on May 25, 1935, and Prato wanted to write about it.

The Mirror published it, part of a long professional and personal friendship that I will miss – as will anyone who knew Lou Prato and admired his work.

Neil Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.