Jerry Taff, the legendary television news anchor whose deep voice and signature sign-off became fixtures in Milwaukee living rooms for over two decades, died on Monday, October 27, 2025, at his home in Texas. He was 85 years old.
Taff served as the lead news anchor at WISN Channel 12, Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, from 1979 until his retirement in May 2005. During his 26-year tenure, he became one of the most recognizable media personalities in southeastern Wisconsin, delivering nightly newscasts that covered everything from international crises to devastating storms and major political conventions.
Born in Lamesa, Texas, in 1940, Taff began his broadcasting career at age 17 at his hometown radio station, WPET-AM. His early ambitions in radio eventually led him to television positions in Dallas, Flint, Michigan, and New Haven, Connecticut, before he landed at WISN Channel 12 in 1979.
By 1980, Taff had become part of an anchor team that propelled WISN 12 to first place among local 10 p.m. newscasts in audience ratings. His career at the station hit a controversial note in early 1985 when he was fired, only to be asked to return in 1987 after ratings declined. The unusual career trajectory reflected his complicated relationship with Milwaukee viewers, who were simultaneously devoted to and divided by his distinctive on-air presence.
In the late 1980s, Taff juggled multiple broadcasting roles, co-anchoring two of WISN 12’s evening reports while also delivering four early morning newscasts on WISN-AM. He even hosted a weekly hour of Elvis Presley music on WOKY-AM, showcasing his versatility and deep connection to entertainment beyond hard news.
Kathy Mykleby, who anchored alongside Taff for more than a dozen years, described him as a know-it-all in the most positive way who could always inject a little Texas-ism into things. The pair maintained their friendship into his retirement, exchanging emails about life’s ups and downs. In one recent message describing a medical procedure he had undergone, Taff wrote with characteristic humor, “I looked like a cool watermelon on a hot summer afternoon. They pretty much split me right up the middle.”
Mykleby recalled forming her first impression of Taff when she was hired to start a newscast at Milwaukee’s Channel 18. While reviewing local news shows to familiarize herself with the market, she saw Taff in Paris, accompanying an Oak Creek mother whose son was being held hostage in Iran. To eventually share the anchor desk with such a larger-than-life figure proved incredible, she indicated, and his presence meant something during harder moments in her life, including her mother’s death and her husband’s in 2023.
A 2005 profile in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described Taff as having a basso profundo that came from an older school of anchors. In that interview, Taff joked about becoming an unlikely celebrity around the city, noting he was not pretty, not especially smart, and certainly polarizing. Yet Milwaukee had taken him in, he said with evident affection.
That polarizing nature was quantified in a 1990s viewer survey conducted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where Taff placed first as the city’s least favorite anchor and second as favorite anchor. The contradictory results reflected the strong opinions viewers held about his commanding on-air presence and distinctive delivery style.
Despite his long career in Wisconsin, Taff acknowledged in his 2005 retirement interview that no place totally felt like home. Milwaukee, however, felt more like home than anyplace else, he stated.
After retiring, Taff returned to Texas and settled in Lubbock, where he reconnected with childhood friends and found contentment in anonymity. He became a Meals on Wheels volunteer, delivering meals to 14 people every Thursday. In a 2014 interview, he expressed delight at being surrounded by people he had known since third grade.
Throughout his career and retirement, Taff became synonymous with his closing phrase at the end of each newscast. Those three words, “Good night, and better tomorrows,” became as much a part of Milwaukee’s evening routine as the news itself.
WISN 12 chief meteorologist Mark Baden wrote on Facebook that Taff was one of a kind and that the two had stayed in touch during his retirement. Baden noted that Taff loved Milwaukee and loved all of the viewers who welcomed him into their homes each night.
Taff’s passing marks the end of an era for Milwaukee broadcasting, when anchors became trusted community figures whose voices carried authority and whose presence provided stability during tumultuous times. His career spanned major technological and cultural shifts in television news, from the early days of local broadcasting dominance through the emergence of cable news networks.
The station released a statement calling Taff a beloved anchor whose impact on southeastern Wisconsin is immeasurable. His colleagues remembered him not just for his professional accomplishments but for the personal connections he maintained with viewers and coworkers long after the cameras stopped rolling.
