Alfred William "Al" Edel (July 30, 1935 – July 3, 2005) was a veteran news broadcaster who anchored the newscast for the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

on shortwave radio.

Biography

Al Edel was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. He graduated from the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and received his master's in communications from Syracuse University. Edel worked for radio station,

WBKW WBKW (1070 AM) is an alternative rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Beckley, West Virginia, serving Beckley and Oak Hill in West Virginia. WBKW is owned and operated by Southern Communications. History First signed on in J ...

in Buffalo before moving to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1960 to broadcast on the thirteen station American Forces Network in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In 1966, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to join

ABC Radio News ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

to anchor the network's newscasts, which were broadcast across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 1969, Edel moved to

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

to anchor the television newscasts for KSOO-TV (later renamed

KSFY-TV KSFY-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside dual NBC/Fox affiliate KDLT-TV (channel 46). Both stations share studios in Co ...

). In 1980, he moved to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, where he worked at ABC as a news writer for '' Good Morning America''. In 1982, Edel anchored the newscasts on the

shortwave radio service for eighteen years. After his retirement in 2000, Al Edel moved to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. On July 3, 2005, he died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 69 in a hospice in

St. George, Utah St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...

. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and three granddaughters. He had requested that no funeral or memorial service be held.

External links

Al Edel's obituary
in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''.
S. D. Watch Blog entry
1935 births 2005 deaths Syracuse University alumni American male journalists College of Wooster alumni Radio personalities from Buffalo, New York People from Sioux Falls, South Dakota People from St. George, Utah South Dakota television anchors South Dakota television reporters Deaths from cancer in Utah Journalists from South Dakota Journalists from New York (state) Television personalities from Buffalo, New York 20th-century American journalists {{US-tv-journalist-stub