APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Local broadcasting legend Ray Wiater, dubbed ‘the Dean of Fox Valley News,’ passed away on Wednesday at 89.

Wiater began his radio news career in Fort Atkinson at WFAW in 1960 before moving to WBEV in Beaver Dam. Wiater would then assume the News Director’s position at WDLB radio in Marshfield, where he served for five years before joining WHBY-AM in Appleton.

From there, he spent over 25 years and was honored for his news reporting by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (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 journalists for the Association’s first U.S. Senate Debate in 1992.

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 Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002