Woodie Asaf 1917-2009

[PelicanGuy 117]

NOTE: I didn't get word of this until today.

 

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200991113033

 

State mourns dean of TV weathermen

 

BY BILLY WATKINS AND GARY PETTUS • [email protected] AND [email protected]

 

Woodie Assaf was more than a longtime weatherman.

 

“He was a person who used the tool of television to help people,” said Dan Modisett, general manager of WLBT-Channel 3 in Jackson. “Whether it was a hurricane or a tornado, Woodie would ask viewers to start pitching in, and before long everybody was kind of lining up behind him, doing whatever was needed.”

 

Assaf, who gave the daily forecast at WLBT for 47 years — from 1953 to 2001 — died Friday afternoon of heart failure. He was 92.

 

He is survived by two children: Debbie Hartzog of Jackson and Deenie Grubbs of Florence; three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Ruby Assaf, his wife of 65 years, died in January at age 88.

 

“Woodie was a child of the Depression, and he had the work ethic to prove it,”

 

Modisett said. “He would be the first person at work every day. He would be here on Saturdays when he didn’t even have to work.

 

“If the old saying about ‘If you love your job, you’ll never have to work a day in your life’ is true, then Woodie never worked a day in his life. He truly loved what he did.”

Said David Hartman, chief meteorologist at WAPT-Channel 16 in Jackson for the past 23 years: “To be somewhere for nearly 50 years in this business, you certainly have to be loved by your viewers, not only for what you do but who you are. Just think how many generations Woodie touched. All of us can only hope to have that kind of success.”

 

A McComb native born on March 15, 1917, Assaf was the weatherman for the same TV station longer than any other TV weatherman in the nation.

 

In spite of his lofty title as Mississippi’s dean of TV weathermen, he spoke to viewers as a neighbor and a friend. Whatever the weather was outside, he presented it with warmth.

 

“He loved WLBT, and he loved, loved, loved the people of Mississippi. I just can’t tell you how much,” Hartzog said through tears.

 

He joined WLBT on Dec. 20, 1953, the day the station first went on the air. As a popular on-air personality, he established himself as a powerful fundraiser host for disaster-relief events and charities, including the Easter Seal Telethon, which he helmed beginning in the late ’70s.

 

He helped raise millions of dollars to assist hundreds of thousands of Mississippians. In 1969, he took a major role in putting together the We Care telethon for victims of Hurricane Camille, an event that brought Bob Hope and a host of entertainment and sports celebrities to Jackson’s Mississippi Coliseum, plus a supportive phone call from then-President Richard Nixon.

 

Assaf also worked with nationally known entertainer Danny Thomas in raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

 

In a 1992 interview, Assaf said, “They call me Mississippi’s biggest beggar. But I don’t mind. When it comes to children, I’ll beg.”

 

His parents, Ellis and Esma Assaf, moved to the United States from Lebanon around the turn of the century, settling in McComb.

 

They had six children, and Ellis supported the family by selling needles and thread door to door.

 

As a boy, Assaf earned spending money by doing odd jobs during the summer in Jackson, including selling newspapers in front of the Heidelberg Hotel and as a caddy at Shady Oaks Country Club.

 

He graduated from McComb High, where he had played football until he broke his leg. He attended Louisiana State University and Southwest Junior College.

 

As a young man, he moved to California, staying with a friend from Mississippi. While there, he became hooked on radio after attending a live show.

 

In 1937, back in his home state, he landed a job as a disc jockey, newsman, weatherman and sportscaster at McComb’s first radio station, WSKB, now WHNY.

He left in 1940 and attended the Columbia Radio College in Chicago, until World War II arrived. After spending four years as an Army training officer, he applied for a job as a radio announcer in Jackson.

 

Every station turned him down.

 

The program director at WJDX suggested Assaf sounded too much like an Army officer on the air and recommended he take a job in a smaller market.

 

He did, at Vicksburg’s WQBC, where he worked to suppress his heavy Southern accent. He applied again, six months later, at WJDX.

 

Hired there on a trial basis, he remained nine years, then switched to WLBT.

At the fledgling TV station he sold ads, did commercials and reported the news, weather and sports.

 

After WLBT hired a larger staff, Assaf was offered a position in sports or weather. He chose the latter.

 

Over the years, his tools of presentation changed, from chalkboard and chalk to computers. In spite of the technological advances, Assaf’s appeal remained unshakable.

 

He never claimed to be a forecaster, but a “reporter” of the weather. His tag line was, “The weatherman says ...”

 

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.