WHO-TV (NBC) Des Moines reports the death of the station’s long-time News Director, Jack Shelley. He was 98.
Shelley joined WHO-AM in 1935 after a short stint at the Clinton (IA) Herald. He became News Director five years later for the radio station and then for WHO-TV as well. During his 30 year career at the stations he not only covered the news in Iowa, but joined troops on the battlefront of World War II as well, interviewing Iowans and others at the Battle of the Bulge. He later was on board the U.S.S. Missouri when Japan formally surrendered to the US.
Leaving the newsroom in 1965 Shelley began teaching journalism at Iowa State University. The school’s policy forced him to retire in 1982 at age 70.
