Jerry Witcher, long-time UPI editor, dies

OKLAHOMA CITY, April 12 (UPI) -- Jerry Witcher, a 31-year veteran of United Press International and member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 73.

Witcher died Wednesday from complications of several illnesses, his daughter, Linda Witcher Mapes, said.

He worked more than 31 years for UPI and trained several generations of journalists while serving as Oklahoma City bureau manager and Oklahoma state editor. He was a longtime member of the Oklahoma City Gridiron Club and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1988.

But that was not the end of his journalism career. He and former UPI staff member Jim Campbell volunteered to help the wire service's coverage of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in which 168 people died.

Phil Magers, based in Dallas, recalled: "The Oklahoma City (UPI) bureau no longer existed and we could only spare one reporter from our limited Dallas staff to cover the first days. But Jim and Jerry followed up for days with superb coverage of the body recovery and related stories for UPI."

Witcher's writing often won praise. In 1980, UPI Editor in Chief H.L. Stevenson said Witcher's reminiscence of the dust bowl days in Oklahoma was "as fine a piece of writing as I've ever seen on the UPI wires in a long while."

Witcher was born Nov. 4, 1932, in a three-room farmhouse near Vinson, Okla., the youngest of three sons of George and Robbie Witcher. He graduated from Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Okla., and, after a stint at the Altus (Okla.) Times-Democrat, joined UPI in April 1959. In September 1978, he was named Oklahoma state editor and Oklahoma City bureau manager.

He was preceded in death by his wife Marilyn, his son David, and his parents.

In addition to his daughter, survivors include a grandson, Jason R. Witcher, and brothers Joe of Houston, and Gail of Weatherford.