Charles H. Herring Jr.

Charles H. HERRING, Jr. Age 83, died January 23, 2006 in Seattle, Washington. Preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Mary Helen, in 1994. Survived by daughter, Mary Susan (Bill) Pitlick, Seattle; son, Charlie (Judy) Herring, Seattle; daughter, Pam (Gary) Beil, Fox Island, WA; and daughter, Jenny Herring, Edmonds, WA. Grandchildren, Betsy and Josh Pitlick; and Heidi (Larry) Nuti, Andy, Charlie (Coral) and Jessica Beil. Also surviving are his brother, Jerry (Norma) Herring, Sonora, CA and sister Carlee Lorenz, Rolling Hills, CA. The Pacific Northwest's first TV news anchor, Charles had a career in radio and TV broadcasting and video production spanning almost a half century. A 1939 graduate of Waitsburg, WA high school, he spent his first year of college at WSU (WSC in those days) and was the first freshman ever to be named a staff announcer at KWSC (now KWSU), Pullman. Later pursuing a B.A. in English, he worked his way through Whitman College as a newscaster/announcer at KUJ, Walla Walla. Having already been called to active duty by the U.S. Navy, he graduated in absentia (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with the Whitman class of 1944. After the war he was a newscaster at KJR, Seattle for five years until becoming KING-TV's first news director in 1951. Charles wrote, produced and presented the station's single daily 15 minute newscast, thus becoming the first live, on-camera TV news anchor north of Los Angeles and west of Minneapolis. During his 16 years at Channel 5 (interrupted by a short stint at the CBS owned and operated TV station in Los Angeles), King-TV's news operation won numerous broadcast awards and began to gain national stature. Included in his assignments were: live coverage in 1954 of the first flight of the 707 prototype, the Dash 80, heralding the dawn of the commercial jet age; the first ever live coverage of the Washington State Legislature and the inauguration of two governors, Rosellini and Evans; the first successful swim of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 1955; live coverage of the 1957 Senate Rackets Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. into the affairs of Dave Beck and the Teamsters Union; and participation in the first ever direct satellite broadcast from the United States to Europe in 1962. In 1967 he left KING-TV and with his wife, Mary Helen, purchased KAPY-AM, Port Angeles, which they operated until selling the station in 1978. Returning to Seattle, he worked as a video producer for the Boeing Company until retirement in 1987. At various times during his lifetime, Charles was vice-president of the Seattle chapter of AFRA, the American Federation of Radio Artists; member of Sigma Chi fraternity, Port Angeles Rotary, Washington Athletic Club and Glen Acres Golf and Country Club; member of the board of directors, Washington State Association of Broadcasters; and president of the Western Washington Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation. In 1996 the Seattle chapter of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences inducted him into its "Silver Circle," which recognizes recipients for 25 years of achievement in television. In 2001, on the day before 9/11, the Seattle Museum of History and Industry honored him on the 50th anniversary of his first TV newscast, September 10, 1951. At his request, no services will be held. Remembrances to Whitman College, Providence Mount St. Vincent or the Union Gospel Mission. Arrangements by Evergreen-Washelli.