Charles E. Sherman, former executive VP of TV for the National Association of Broadcasters, died June 18 in Philadelphia (his hometown) after a long illness.
“Chuck Sherman was 'Mr. Television’ at NAB for nearly 15 years,” says NAB President Eddie Fritts. “Chuck will best be remembered for helping launch NABEF’s Service to America Summit and for directing the foundation that has helped many minorities and women advance into leadership ranks of local broadcasting. The NAB family extends our condolences to Elaine and the entire Sherman family.”
Sherman, 71, had been with the NAB since 1988, first as VP, television, and from 2002-2004 as president of the NAB Education Foundation, which just last week handed out its Service to America awards for public service, a program he created.
The Education Foundation also oversees education and training programs, diversity initiatives and First Amendment efforts.
Sherman came well equipped for both the TV and education aspects of his NAB career. He served as a TV and radio announcer in the Army, managed two TV stations and one radio (WTRF-TV and –FM Wheeling, W.Va., and WHOI[TV] Peoria, Ill.), and was chairman of the radio-TV-film department at the University of Wisconsin and head of the telecommunications department at Indiana University.
As NAB VP of television, he headed the association’s support and outreach to station members, including help in planning the transition to digital TV.
Chuck is survived by wife Elaine, two sons, a daughter and four grandchildren.
Tom Holden, 67, news anchor at WKBN Youngstown, Ohio, for more than 30 years, died June 11 at Northside Hospital in Youngstown of complications from a blood infection.
He had been in the process of retiring, turning over the 6 and 11 p.m. news to Robb Schmidt, when he became ill. “At the time of his illness, he was still an active, important part of the station’s daily news operations,” says station General Manager David Coy, “so it has really been quite a shock to the station and community.”
Holden is survived by a sister, three children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
WTVC Chattanooga, Tenn., news anchor MaryEllen Locher, 45, died June 9 of cancer, only two days after announcing that she would have to retire from the station during this, her third bout with the disease. Locher joined the station as a health reporter in 1985.
Locher’s cancer first surfaced 16 years ago and led her to speak out about it to civic groups, as well as to found the Hats from the Heart program, giving out free hats to cancer patients who had lost their hair, and the Children of Breast Cancer (www.childrenofbreastcancer.org) foundation to raise money for kids who had lost a mother to the disease.
The inaugural recipient of the scholarship—started in 2002—is now a junior at the University of Tennessee, studying to be a broadcaster.
A breast-cancer center at a local hospital was recently named for Locher. She is survived by husband David and son Alex.
