Anne Wilder

Anne Wilder, a journalist who worked for The Miami Herald and the Fort Pierce Tribune, died Tuesday at a nursing home. She was 93. Ms. Wilder was born on Oct. 13, 1913, in Rochester, N.Y., and came to Florida in 1946 as the news director of a local radio station. She worked for The Miami Herald for 20 years as a reporter and a bureau chief in St. Lucie County. She contributed columns to the newspaper for another decade. A collection of those columns, titled Fair and Wilder, was published in 1981. She later wrote columns for the Fort Pierce Tribune about history and community news. She continued to write into her late 80s. Ms. Wilder also taught journalism at Indian River Community College and in 1983 was presented with its highest award, the President's Cup, for her "exemplary service," said Michelle Abaldo, a spokeswoman for IRCC. She was an avid swimmer, taking it up to stay in shape for hiking. She trekked in India, Mongolia, Iceland and Greenland, and thought swimming would keep her fit. In a column in 2001, she wrote about joining IRCC's Masters swimming program and competing in her first swim meet with what she termed an enthusiastic freestyle, which "had lots of enthusiasm and little style." But swimming became a passion for her, one she continued to do competitively into her 80s. She won multiple gold medals in national and international competitions. She also was a member of a world championship relay team in the early 1990s and was named to the St. Lucie County Sports Hall of Fame. The pool at IRCC was named the Anne Wilder Aquatic Complex in 2001. A memorial service is planned at 2 p.m. June 16 at the Indian River Presbyterian Church in Fort Pierce.