Broadcaster Birge dies at 83
Dec. 6—Jerry Birge, who created and produced "Around Owensboro with Jerry Birge" on local cable TV for 15 years and was the radio voice for area high school sports broadcasts for several years, died Friday at his home in Jasper, Indiana, after a short fight with leukemia. He was 83.
Birge's career in sports broadcasting began in 1959. He moved to Owensboro in 1987 to become news and sports director for WSTO 96.1 and WVJS 92.9 and cable Channel 2. He held those positions for more than a decade, earning honors for sports broadcasting.
"He fell in love with Kentucky," said Jennifer Birge, his daughter. "He was a Hoosier boy by birth but felt like a Kentuckian. He loved raising a family here."
While in Owensboro, Birge mentored dozens of young journalists, many of whom went on to TV journalism careers in the Evansville market and beyond. He also handled TV play-by-play duties for the Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball and football programs.
From 2002-08, Birge served as marketing and communications manager for the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph in Owensboro.
"His love of sports was handed down to his children," Jennifer Birge said. "Out of the seven children, there may have been one that had no interest, but the rest of us played sports or went to sporting events."
Jennifer said her father was a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and she was always amazed at his ability to recall statistics as well as he did.
"Family was the love of his life, though," she said. "The family grew bigger and bigger with every generation, and he loved being around his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He said his favorite sound in the world was a child laughing."
Birge never knew a stranger, Jennifer said.
"We would sit down at a restaurant and several people would come up and have conversations talking about their families," she said. "I would ask who it was, and he said he had no idea. He had a magnetic personality. Everyone felt like they were his friend, and he made everyone feel that way."
Birge started his career at WITZ 104.7 in Jasper, where he did sports play-by-play. In 1961, he made a move to WJPS 107.1 in Evansville before moving to television as a sports anchor for Evansville's WTVW Channel 7.
During his time at WTVW, Birge became the television voice for the University of Evansville basketball team, formerly the Evansville College Aces, from 1962 to 1967. Birge returned to Jasper in 1967 where he became the sports editor for the Dubois County Daily Herald, now known as The Herald.
Joel Utley, the retired voice of Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball, said he met Birge while they were both broadcasting collegiate basketball games.
"Jerry was broadcasting UE games, and the schools are rivals, and our paths crossed that way," Utley said. "We had a lot in common with broadcasting and our love of sports."
Utley said their friendship evolved through their common interests and mutual love for things they were covering.
"I respected his professional life and his helpful nature in helping me along the way," Utley said. "We stayed in contact and often talked about the Cardinals and their exploits on the diamond."
Birge was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association's Hall of Fame in April 2010, where he was honored for more than 25 years of covering Indiana sports in the newspaper and on air.
In 2014, Birge and his wife, Maggie, retired to Jasper.
Birge is survived by his wife of 64 years. Together, they raised seven children and have 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Visitation for Birge will be held Sunday, Dec. 11 from 1 to 6 p.m. EST at Becher-Kluesner Funeral Home in downtown Jasper. A funeral service will be held Monday, Dec. 12 beginning at 10 a.m. EST at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper.
