Jim Burt (June 22, 1918 – July 5, 1993) was an American broadcast pioneer who spent forty years as sportscaster on KELO radio and television. He was named
South Dakota's sportscaster of the year seven times.
Biography
Jim Burt was born in
Melcher, Iowa
Melcher-Dallas is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,195 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
In 1919, the Red Rock Coal Company's mine near Melcher was the third largest coal mine in the state. This mine produ ...
, on June 22, 1918. He graduated from
Melcher High School in 1936 and then from
Brown Institute
Brown College was a private for-profit college in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. It merged with another college in March 2014, to form Sanford-Brown College. These campuses were part of a larger group of schools under the same general heading. Gener ...
in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. Burt started broadcasting sports for
KELO in June 1947. He broadcast every boys basketball tournament from 1948 to 1982, and was "the voice of the
South Dakota Coyotes" from 1952 to 1977.
Jim Burt joined South Dakota's first television station,
KELO-TV in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when the station first went on the air in 1953. He served as the station's sports director. Burt retired in 1987.
In December 1994, an endowed scholarship fund was established in Jim Burt's memory within the
University of South Dakota Foundation. The scholarship was called the "Jim Burt Memorial Scholarship for Broadcast Journalism Endowment."
Jim Burt died in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on July 5, 1993, at the age of 75.
External links
Jim Burt's profileat th
South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame websiteJim Burt Memorial Scholarship page
at th
University of South Dakota websiteObituary
1918 births
1993 deaths
People from Marion County, Iowa
South Dakota television reporters
Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Journalists from South Dakota
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
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