RTNDA’s Noreen Welle dies
Steve Safran December 30th, 2006
PRESS RELEASE, IN FULL.
Noreen Welle, Communicator Editor and RTNDA Vice President, Dies
WASHINGTON —Noreen Welle, RTNDA’s vice president for communications, marketing and membership, died early Friday, Dec. 29, at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, where she had been treated for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood. She was 57. Noreen fought the disease courageously for the past year. Her husband, Tom, and her daughters, Lauren and Kate, were with her when she passed away.
RTNDA President Barbara Cochran wrote these reflections on Noreen’s many contributions to the Association and its members:
Noreen was a cherished member of the RTNDA staff for nearly a decade. She joined RTNDA in September 1997 as director of communications and immediately launched a new design for Communicator, RTNDA’s monthly magazine. Under her leadership, Communicator has become one of the most valued benefits of membership and has won many national and regional awards. Noreen introduced such popular features as Tough Calls, in which three journalists share their views about an ethical dilemma, and Trade Secrets, an annual feature with dozens of tips from professionals.
In 2003, Noreen assumed responsibility for membership and marketing. Hundreds of RTNDA members became familiar with her cheery emails to congratulate them on a new promotion or offer a helping hand with a job change. Noreen’s influence was felt in every RTNDA member service. When RTNDA began holding its annual convention with the National Association of Broadcasters, Noreen invented the catchy new title, RTNDA@NAB. She edited Power Producer, RTNDA’s best-selling handbook for new producers, and created the design for Keeping It Legal, the RTNDA guide to legal issues for newsrooms. She also oversaw the Edward R. Murrow and RTNDA/UNITY Awards programs and increased the visibility and prestige of those awards.
As the contact on all RTNDA news releases, Noreen was well known to reporters who cover television, radio and online journalism. Her deft writing style and journalistic integrity served her well in handling RTNDA’s public relations and communications efforts. In 2005, Noreen was promoted to the position of vice president.
Noreen Welle was born January 5, 1949 in Kansas City , MO. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with a bachelors degree. She and her husband, Tom, married in March of 1972 and moved to Washington , DC . Noreen worked as a magazine editor for a series of trade associations including the Door and Hardware Institute and the National Automobile Dealers Association. Before joining RTNDA Noreen worked for trade magazine publishers Hanley Wood as executive editor of Builder Magazine.
Noreen’s colleagues on the RTNDA and RTNDF staffs and her many friends among RTNDA board and members are remembering her feisty spirit, her warmth, her humor, her talent and her dedication. She was a remarkable person who contributed so much to our association and we will miss her enormously.
A memorial service is tentatively scheduled at 11a.m. Wednesday, January 3rd at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 9970 Vale Road , Vienna , VA 22181 . In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 383 Main Avenue, 5th floor, Norwalk, CT 06851; The Little Sisters of the Poor, Jeanne Jugan Center, 8745 James A. Reed Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64138-4490; and Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, 1600 K Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006.
All of our sympathies and prayers are with Noreen’s family. If you would like to send a note to the family you may send it to:
Tom, Lauren and Kate Welle
c/o RTNDA
1600 K Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington , DC 20006
12 Comments Add your own
1. Chip Mahaney | December 30th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Noreen was awesome and she did so much to make RTNDA a better organization for those of us who care about it so much. Like Steve, I first came to know her through the Communicator. I was the writer, and she was the editor on deadline. She was a gentle prodder, but she made sure deadlines were met, andshe published a great magazine every month.
Later on, I learned how much more Noreen did for RTNDA, and how much our organization relied on her. We’ll all miss her.
2. bruce Tobin | December 31st, 2006 at 6:24 pm
The world is a good bit less fun, and not nearly as smart as it was when Noreen Welle was still with us. I had the good fortune to work - and play - with Noreen for many of the past 22 years as a magazine designer and a friend. The wonderful combination of smarts, wit and instinct that she brought to her work - and her life - was a true gift for the organizations and people that collaborated with her. Noreen set high standards for all of her endeavors and she brought those of us who worked with her up to meet those standards with her. Mostly I will remember Noreen’s endless sense of fun, the conspiratorial gleam in her eye, the arched eyebrows, before letting out that distinctive laugh - or more often, inducing others to laughter. Noreen, I know I’m not alone in saying that you are already greatly missed.
3. Riley | January 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
RIP Noreen and my thoughts and prayers are with her family during this very hard time. I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing her but by reading about her I wish I had.
4. J. Richard Norton | January 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 am
I worked with Noreen during our years at Hanley Wood. It hurts me to find out that she has left this life far, far before her biblically allotted three score and ten and her 79.7 years as the U.S. average for women. Noreen was always a joy to work with, even tho’ I was but an editorial typesetter sending coded files via IBM-PC and modem using XyWrite+ II in the 1980s.
My sincere condolences to her family, friends, and associates.
J. Richard Norton
Denver, Colorado
5. Andrea Rouda | January 3rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Noreen was my good friend for 20 years, and in the last few years she had also become my “boss” when I started writing for Communicator. A great editor, her legendary knack for finding just the right word or phrase often made me look better on paper.
In addition to her many devoted friends, a loving husband, and two wonderful children, Noreen’s work remained a priority in her life. Even during her illness she remained upbeat, juggling work and family to the end.
Noreen was often “the life of the party,” and she will be sorely missed at this one for years to come.
6. Kevin Osgood | January 5th, 2007 at 8:29 am
My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.
Noreen was someone I am blessed to have known. She worked so hard for RTNDA. My first impression of her was made when she flashed me a smile. Later I found she did so much for the organization and did it quietly behind the scenes. It made me wonder how it was she could manage to share that smile as often as she did. She was a special person and will be missed.
7. June Fletcher | January 5th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I had the pleasure of working with Noreen for almost a decade at Hanley Wood. She was so smart, creative, funny and caring. Although dedicated to her work, it was always secondary to treating her fellow workers with kindness and respect. As an example–once, on a business trip, I shared a room with her. She noticed that I had a red welt on my head–and it turned out to be tick bite. When I came down with a fever because of the bite, she made sure I got to a doctor in time to start antibiotics. Thanks to her, I avoided a potentially serious illness.
I’ll always remember Noreen with immense fondness, and I grieve for her passing. My condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.
8. Doug Erickson | January 8th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Oh, my God, I am so shocked and saddened to read this!
Noreen was the best boss I ever had; she was both a true friend and a manager that pushed for the absolute best from her employees. She always made me feel appreciated. She had a great sense of humor and I can still hear her laugh as I write this. She was also an inspiration as a parent; she was a consumate professional who produced top-quality work while always keeping her family first.
I learned more from Noreen than any other person I’ve worked for. I will remember her laugh and how much her praise, genuine and specific instead of constant and insincere, meant to me. What an awful loss. I am so sorry.
9. Dan Trigoboff | January 9th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I worked with Noreen for years when she was with RTNDA and I was with Broadcasting & Cable, and I did a few articles for Communicator later. While we knew each other in a business capacity, sometimes you get to be friends with the really good ones. Noreen was one of the really good ones. She was smart and funny and it was always a pleasure to see or talk with her. I think she made a great contribution to the news business, and to those who knew her.
10. Donna Renae | January 19th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
A great lady, she will be missed by all who knew her.
11. Catherine Mullaly Turso | January 22nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Noreen’s passing leaves a big hole in the world as I see it. In the three years I worked with Noreen at RTNDA, I couldn’t help but be impressed by her work ethic and her wit — she never missed a beat and had a perfect come back for everything. But what I appreciated most, as a young woman in her first job out of college, was the example Noreen set. She excelled in her profession, was a warm colleague, talked often about her family, and still found time for a manicure every two weeks. I remember her telling me that it’s important to set aside a little time for yourself. I’ll miss her.
12. sherrie de leon | January 23rd, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I met Noreen at an awards dinner in NY a few years ago. I was covering it for a small community news organization in Harlem. She warmed to me like we were old friends. And she never stopped sending me personal notes scribbled on her business cards, email reminders, and invitations over the years. She embraced me like a cherished member of the old RTNDA family. I’m sure mine is one of many lives she touched with her warm and down to earth style. My thoughts and prayers are with her family.
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