Bill Shadel
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Willard Franklin "Bill" Shadel (July 31, 1908 – January 29, 2005) was an American news anchor for
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
Television. Shadel was born in
Milton, Wisconsin Milton is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,716 at the 2020 census. History The city was formed as a result of the 1967 merger of the villages of Milton and Milton Junction. In November of that year, ballot ...
, one of five children and the younger of two sons of Franklin Luther and Ida Louise Pachel Shadel. He was musically talented and in his early years provided music for silent movies. He graduated from
Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...
in Michigan. Shadel assumed direction of the college band and orchestra in 1929, while still a student and then worked as an assistant program manager for the college's radio station, responsible for music presentations that included his performing as a soloist on marimba, saxophone, clarinet, and trombone and him directing bands and choirs for the station. His work as a soloist and with these groups, which also gave programs for the school, was an immediate hit with their members and the campus at large. While at Andrews University, he married Marion I. Kocher and they had two sons, Willard F., Jr. and Gerald I. He led the groups for two years following his graduation in 1932, while teaching political science courses, and then left to lead the band, orchestra, and choirs at Washington Missionary College, now
Washington Adventist University Washington Adventist University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Takoma Park, Maryland. History Washington Adventist University was established in 1904 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Washington Training College. In ...
, in Washington, D.C. He received a master's degree in history from the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. Shadel began his career as a musician in silent-movie theaters before taking his marimba to live radio. Shadel began writing for various
National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
journal The American Rifleman. Shadel received press credentials from CBS and shipped overseas to cover the European Theater. His duties were taken over by his associate editors, and The American Rifleman carried articles and interviews by Shadel up until the end of the war.Roberts, Joseph B. ''The American Rifleman Goes To War'' (Washington D.C.:1992) p. 135.
Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...
recruited Shadel while he was working in Europe as a correspondent for the
National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Shadel covered the June 6, 1944,
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
invasion for CBS Radio. During his years at CBS, Shadel worked alongside Murrow, Howard K. Smith,
Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
, and
Eric Sevareid Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed " Murrow's ...
. He and Murrow were the first reporters in the German concentration camp at Buchenwald. They came by jeep and were swarmed by the starving and dying. Mr. Shadel said it was the memory of the living, not the multitudes of dead, that stayed with him most. After the war, Shadel reported from Washington, D.C., trying his hand at television at WTOP-TV as a
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
reporter for the local CBS news program then anchored by Walter Cronkite. Each week on WTOP-TV, a local department store sponsored a fashion show; Shadel met and fell in love with one of the models. She became his wife of more than 56 years, Julie Strouse. In 1954 Shadel became the first host of the Sunday-morning interview show ''
Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Face the Nation'' is one of the longest-running news programs in the history ...
''. He later became one of several anchors for ABC's Evening News after
John Charles Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, host, radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show ...
stepped down in 1960, and also that year moderated the third presidential debate between Richard M. Nixon and
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
. Anchored ABC's 12 hour coverage of John Glenn's three-orbit flight around the Earth in 1962. He left the news business in 1963, then taught as Professor of communications at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
until retiring 12 years later. Given the "Witness to the Truth" award by the
Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...
in 1990. Shadel was the 1951 president of the Radio-Television Correspondents Association.


References


External links


USA Today Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shadel, Bill 1908 births 2005 deaths American radio news anchors American television news anchors CBS News people People from Milton, Wisconsin Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Deaths from prostate cancer American war correspondents of World War II American television reporters and correspondents ABC News personalities Andrews University alumni