Ray Wiater, known at the “Dean of Fax Valley news” and member of the WBA Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 89.
Wiater died Wednesday with his family by his side.
Wiater was news director at WHBY radio in Appleton for more than 35 years.
He began his radio news career in Fort Atkinson at WFAW in 1960 and then moved to WBEV, Beaver Dam. In 1968, he assumed the news director post at WDLB radio, Marshfield, where he served for five years before joining WHBY.
During his career, Wiater was honored for his news reporting by the WBA, the Associated Press, and the Northwest Broadcast News Association. He helped to establish the WBA tradition of statewide broadcast political debates, serving on the panel of broadcast journalist for the Association’s first U.S. Senate Debate in 1992.
Wiater He served on the Executive Board of the Associated Press and in 1984 he was honored with its prestigious Carol Brewer Award.
He was inducted into the WBA Hall of Fame in 2002.
Arrangements have not been announced as of the time this article was published.
