Long-time WBAY-TV news anchor Chuck Ramsay dies

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - WBAY is sad to report long-time news anchor and legendary broadcaster Chuck Ramsay died this week. He was 91 years old.

Chuck made his mark in broadcasting on radio in Michigan and television in Wisconsin.

He covered both sports and news during his 45-year career in broadcasting. He was the face of WBAY-TV and Action 2 News for more than 30 years.

He was one of those big personalities who built WBAY into the news station it is today -- the source of information for an entire generation of viewers.

He retired in 2002 and was inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003.

Chuck was born in Cheboygan, Michigan, and grew up in Dearborn, near Detroit. He entered the Navy shortly after high school. A couple of years later, Chuck went to a friend’s wedding in Minnesota and met a guy who was working as a sportscaster at a Rochester television station. He watched the show one night and was intrigued. Chuck ended up in school in Minneapolis for broadcasting, and graduated from the Brown Institute of Radio and TV in 1957.

Soon after, he earned $90 for a cameo with Jimmy Stewart in the 1959 movie “Anatomy of a Murder,” which was shot in Marquette, Michigan.

Chuck worked in both radio and television in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for eight years, meeting his wife, Georgia, along the way. The couple initially came to Green Bay in the mid-1960’s for a job at another station in town. Chuck ended up applying at WBAY-TV when a position for a farm director opened up. That position didn’t quite work out, but in 1965 Chuck ended up in the sports department doing whatever was needed.

He even had a run-in with legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.

“As I walked by he said, ‘Whoa, what are you doing out here?’

“I’m looking to get a picture of Bart Starr in a sling.”

“Get the hell off my field,” Lombardi replied.

But life in TV didn’t last. Chuck became a salesman for an archery business for a couple of years. WBAY came calling again, and he went back to work in television -- temporarily.

Chuck’s love of the outdoors and bow hunting surfaced again when a place near Mercer, Wisconsin, came up for sale. “There was a resort for sale up there, so I talked to Georgia and I said, ‘Let’s get out of this business, and let’s buy a resort.’ She never says no. She said, “Let’s do it.” The Ramsays spent two more years running the resort for bear hunting.

But WBAY came calling again in 1971, and the third time proved to be the charm. “News anchor? I thought, ‘What is that?’ I had never heard the term before.”

He blazed a trail for others in the business, including Bill Jartz and Chris Roth, who made the transition from sports director to news anchor.

“Some folks didn’t think it would work, but it did. This is a sports-oriented town, and if you’re in sports you’re looked at favorably,” says Chuck.

Chuck Ramsay spent 31 years as news anchor. He covered thousands of stories over the years. He traveled to Alaska to show firsthand the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He traveled to Iraq during the early days of the Gulf War.

“I had a couple of stories that really affected me and I really had to be careful. You try not to break up, but you’re human, I think,” Ramsay recalled.

He is fondly remembered as the Walter Cronkite of Northeast Wisconsin.

“I met Walter a couple of times and he was the consummate pro and he never missed anything,” Chuck says. “He was one of the best anchors I’ve ever seen, and let’s face it, when you’re in front of a camera you’re doing a lot of acting.”

Even after being retired for over 20 years, people still recognized him.

“I love it when people say ‘Hi, Chuck’ like they know you, because it makes me feel good, because they know who I am. And everyone wants to be recognized,” he said in an interview for WBAY’s 70th anniversary in 2023.

Chuck had opportunities to jump to larger markets, but he stayed in Green Bay. He says it is a good fit for a guy who loves to hunt and fish.

“It was a good life and I enjoyed every bloody minute of it on the air. I enjoyed it all! I thank God for the opportunity to do what I did and I didn’t mess it up, I don’t think,” Chuck says.

Chuck and his wife raised four children and lived in a log house which he helped erect.

He was a regular host of the annual CP Telethon on WBAY-TV, and he volunteered for fundraisers for the Fox Valley Domestic Abuse Center, the March of Dimes Telethon, and the Boy Scouts’ annual Scouting for Food program.

An avid outdoorsman, he once earned the title State Archery Champion and successfully defended it the following year.

Before retiring to Florida, Chuck was also an elder at Green Bay Community Church.

Our condolences are with Georgia and his entire family.

Funeral services will be announced in the coming days.