Jerry Taff, the distinctive voice and face of Milwaukee television news for more than a quarter-century, died Monday, October 27, 2025, at his home in Texas. The longtime WISN 12 anchor was 85 years old.
Taff anchored the news at Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate from 1979 until his retirement in May 2005, becoming a fixture in southeastern Wisconsin households with his signature deep voice and memorable sign-off phrase: “Good night, and better tomorrows.”
Born in 1940 in Lamesa, Texas, Taff entered broadcasting at age 17, working at his hometown radio station WPET-AM. His career took him through Dallas, Flint, Michigan, and New Haven, Connecticut, before he arrived at WISN 12 in 1979. Within a year, he helped propel the station’s 10 p.m. newscast to first place in local audience ratings.
His tenure at the station was not without turbulence. In early 1985, station management fired Taff, but the decision proved costly. When ratings dropped following his departure, WISN 12 asked him to return in 1987. He remained with the station for nearly two more decades.
During the late 1980s, Taff maintained a demanding schedule beyond his anchor duties. In addition to co-anchoring two evening newscasts at WISN 12, he delivered four early morning news reports on WISN-AM 1130. He also hosted a weekly hour of Elvis Presley music on WOKY-AM 920, revealing his passion for entertainment that extended beyond journalism.
Throughout his 26 years at the station, Taff covered significant stories that shaped Milwaukee and the nation. His reporting took him internationally to Cuba and Tel Aviv, to national political conventions, and to scenes of devastating storms. One particularly memorable assignment found him in Paris, accompanying an Oak Creek mother whose son was being held hostage in Iran.
Kathy Mykleby, who anchored alongside Taff for more than a dozen years, described him as a know-it-all “in the most positive way” who “could always inject a little Texas-ism into things.” The pair maintained contact through retirement, and in a recent email describing a medical procedure, Taff wrote with characteristic humor: “I looked like a cool watermelon on a hot summer afternoon. They pretty much split me right up the middle.”
Mykleby told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that working with Taff was extraordinary, and his presence remained meaningful during difficult personal moments, including her mother’s death and her husband’s passing in 2023. She noted that he was someone who stayed present both in professional life and personal relationships.
A 2005 profile in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described Taff as having “a basso profundo that comes from an older school of anchors.” In that interview before his retirement, Taff expressed surprise at his status in the city, joking about his unlikely celebrity status in Milwaukee despite not being conventionally handsome or particularly smart.
His relationship with viewers proved complex and polarizing. In a viewer survey conducted by the newspaper during the 1990s, Taff simultaneously placed first as the city’s least favorite anchor and second as favorite anchor. Former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel radio and television writer Mike Drew noted this paradox in a 2004 column, highlighting how Taff elicited strong reactions from audiences.
Despite spending much of his career in Wisconsin, Taff acknowledged in his 2005 retirement interview that no place totally felt like home. However, he added that Milwaukee felt more like home than anywhere else, reflecting the deep connection he developed with the city and its residents over more than two decades.
After retiring from broadcasting, Taff returned to Texas, settling in Lubbock where he grew up. He reconnected with childhood friends and embraced community service, volunteering with Meals on Wheels and delivering meals to 14 people every Thursday.
WISN 12 chief meteorologist Mark Baden, who stayed in touch with Taff during retirement, posted a tribute on Facebook calling him one of a kind. Baden wrote that Taff loved Milwaukee and loved the viewers who welcomed him into their homes each evening for more than a quarter-century.
Taff’s distinctive sign-off became inseparable from his legacy in Milwaukee broadcasting. Each night for 26 years, he closed the newscast with the same phrase that offered viewers both a farewell and a promise of hope for the days ahead.
