John Roedel – Legacy
John Roedel was one of the KSD folks who worked at the radio station when television came to St. Louis, which meant he was required to wear several hats in the Pulitzer broadcast operation.
Roedel came to St. Louis from WISH in Indianapolis in 1946. As he told it, his uncle in St. Louis had lunch at the Missouri Athletic Club and KSD’s general manager George Burbach mentioned he needed radio announcers. A call was made and John Roedel was on the next train to St. Louis. The relationship that ensued was a long one. John Roedel served as a staff announcer and newsman at KSD until 1975.
In his initial position as staff announcer, Roedel “did just about everything,” from disc jockeying to news to commercials, not to mention the station IDs between network shows.
When KSD-TV signed on in February 1947, staff announcers were also expected to perform similar chores in the television studio. Roedel was the voice of morning news on KSD for 25 years. In 1996 he was made a member of the NATAS Silver Circle.