WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin NewsRuss Widoe

Russ Widoe

Russ Widoe (center) was Captain Caboose on the popular children's program of the same name that aired on WBAY-TV.

From the WBAY archives (October 24, 1999):

Russell Widoe was a television pioneer and one of the most popular broadcasters in Northeast Wisconsin history. For more than a decade between the 1950's and 60's, kids in this area grew up with Colonel Caboose. 

He passed away yesterday in his California home after a short illness. He was 83.

Today, some of those who knew him best, including his daughter, Pat Schuh, and long-time WBAY director Len Ihlenfeldt shared their thoughts on a man who was loved by many.

Pat Schuh: "He commanded at that time 75 percent of the market, and people knew Colonel Caboose almost better than Captain Kangaroo. I couldn't walk down the street where someone didn't stop him and the kids would come up and hold his hand."

Len Ihlenfeldt: "Such magnitude, interest and compassion for people. He was not only the entertainer we had on the air that all the kiddies loved all over this whole area, but he was a person we really loved here also."

Don Poh, longtime friend: "He was a real artist. Came to this community in the radio business but had a masters degree in music from Northwestern, so he really knew what he was doing. What else can you say about the man except he was without question the most important performing arts figure in the 50's and had influence far beyond that."

Len: "To have somebody who pioneered TV in that respect, educational, and to be the same man-- he was the same man on the street he was in the studio."

After retiring from television in 1980, Widoe founded Northeastern Wisconsin In-School Telecommunications, or NEWIST. It's still running strong on the U.W.-Green Bay campus and produces a variety of programs.