Scheid's distinctive voice fades into retirement
By John Quinlan, Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
With a distinctive baritone voice to rival James Earl Jones' or Josh Turner's, Bruce Scheid has been a fixture on the local television scene for what seems like forever. For 37 years, he has been working for KTIV, most of that time as a reporter whose longtime specialty was agriculture news.
Health problems, however, have sidelined the 60-year-old South Dakota native and Vietnam War veteran who formally retired June 22 . This also happens to be the date in 1970 that he started work at the station as an unseen booth announcer. It was the authoritative voice that got him hired. His determination made him a reporter four years later, though his dark good looks and military-lean physique didn't hurt, either.
In tribute to the longtime voice of Siouxland, an open house reception for Scheid is set for 7 to 9 tonight in the Sioux City Community Theatre Mezzanine, 1401 Riverside Blvd. Coffee, cake, old friends and co-workers will be on hand to pay tribute to the newsman.
"He was an exceptionally hard worker," said Bridget Breen, KTIV news director. "He set a standard for people to follow. And you could learn something new from Bruce Scheid every day. He truly was a gift in the newsroom."
Learning something new every day was, in fact, one of the things that made the news business so appealing to Scheid.
"That was one of the greatest things I loved about being a reporter, is the ability to learn something new every day," he said, thanking the people of Siouxland who met with him over the years, sharing their lives and stories -- thousands of them.
Fresh from the farm
Bruce Scheid grew up on a farm near the tiny town of Cavoeur, S.D., and graduated from Iroquois High School in 1964. He joined the Army in 1965, serving in the Signal Corps, where he did communications work, until 1969.
After returning home as a staff sergeant from a 14-month tour in Vietnam, he briefly moved to Illinois, working for a moving van company. But Scheid wanted a career. He picked broadcasting and got his FCC license in Chicago. While in the Army, a fellow from Utah with broadcasting experience told Bruce he had the voice for it. So he figured, what the heck, he'd give it a try.
After a brief stint working at a small FM radio station in Sioux Falls, he moved to Sioux City and went to work as a booth announcer at KTIV, basically an off-screen voice reading "live" commercials and other announcements. It was a tricky task reading 40-second commercials in 30 seconds, he said, but it proved to be good training.
The hours were also a little tough, working six days, a total of 48 hours a week.
In 1974, he joined the newsroom as a reporter. As an ex-farm boy, the agriculture beat proved to be a natural fit, he said. Eventually he took on more general assignment work. and he loved all of it.
Scheid can't remember his first big story. They all tend to blur. But some stories stand out, such as the crash of United Airlines Flight 232, just because of their emotional impact, he said. Another story involving the holiday house-fire deaths of four children in Sioux City nearly 30 years ago also affected him deeply. "It was freezing weather. The mother was there. Her children had just died in a fire. It was a very tough story to cover," he said.
The station was still using black-and-white film occasionally back in the 1970s, he noted. The technological changes he has seen in his 37 years in the business have been incredible, Scheid said. "The machinery was so different in those days," he said. "It was like comparing a huge IBM computer to a laptop now."
KTIV didn't have the early morning or 5 p.m. newscasts back then either, he noted.
When he started at the station, one goal was to get a college degree and not waste the opportunity provided by the G.I. Bill benefits he had earned. Dealing with a newborn son from his first marriage and those 48-hour weeks, he tried going to college full time, too, but soon realized how insane that was. So he cut back on his study load at Briar Cliff College (now University), and after six years, he had his bachelor's degree in English.
He also stuck with the military, joining the 185th Iowa Air National Guard when he moved to Sioux City. After 22 years with the Guard, he retired in 2001 as Maj. Scheid.
Being a familiar face to thousands of Siouxlanders, Scheid said he never resented the attention he got in public over the years.
"It does give you the opportunity to become friends with people you don't know," he said. "People come up and start chatting, and that's great. They still do that even now that I'm retired."
Flat on his back
Bruce Scheid wasn't planning to retire at 60, but chronic back pain that started 10 years ago and included a couple of herniated discs made going to work an impossibility last spring. He eventually used up all his sick leave.
"The pain had progressed to the point where, earlier this year, it became just debilitating," Scheid said.
Three trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and several visits with specialists and neurologists have convinced him the disc problem is an inoperable one due to the placement of the two discs. Even if he survived the surgery, there is no guarantee his back would be better, he said. Between medication and ongoing physical therapy, he is hoping for enough improvement to get out of bed more. It is where he spends most of his time these days, flat on his ailing back.
As an Army Signal Corps vet who served in Vietnam from January 1968 to March 1969, Scheid said there is a possibility that his condition was aggravated by exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide developed by the military to defoliate trees and shrubbery where the enemy could hide. That could explain the nerve damage that has made his recovery so daunting, Scheid said. But he admits it is just a theory that probably can't be proved. He is hoping for some answers when he sees a Veterans Administration doctor next month at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls.
"Thank goodness, we have one person who can continue to work in this family," Scheid said of his wife, Linda, executive director of the Food Bank of Siouxland.
He also gets a lot of support from his three sons: Marty, 35, of Council Bluffs; and Adam, 18, and Gabriel 16, both students at North High School.
Health problems, however, have sidelined the 60-year-old South Dakota native and Vietnam War veteran who formally retired June 22 . This also happens to be the date in 1970 that he started work at the station as an unseen booth announcer. It was the authoritative voice that got him hired. His determination made him a reporter four years later, though his dark good looks and military-lean physique didn't hurt, either.
In tribute to the longtime voice of Siouxland, an open house reception for Scheid is set for 7 to 9 tonight in the Sioux City Community Theatre Mezzanine, 1401 Riverside Blvd. Coffee, cake, old friends and co-workers will be on hand to pay tribute to the newsman.
"He was an exceptionally hard worker," said Bridget Breen, KTIV news director. "He set a standard for people to follow. And you could learn something new from Bruce Scheid every day. He truly was a gift in the newsroom."
Learning something new every day was, in fact, one of the things that made the news business so appealing to Scheid.
"That was one of the greatest things I loved about being a reporter, is the ability to learn something new every day," he said, thanking the people of Siouxland who met with him over the years, sharing their lives and stories -- thousands of them.
Fresh from the farm
Bruce Scheid grew up on a farm near the tiny town of Cavoeur, S.D., and graduated from Iroquois High School in 1964. He joined the Army in 1965, serving in the Signal Corps, where he did communications work, until 1969.
After returning home as a staff sergeant from a 14-month tour in Vietnam, he briefly moved to Illinois, working for a moving van company. But Scheid wanted a career. He picked broadcasting and got his FCC license in Chicago. While in the Army, a fellow from Utah with broadcasting experience told Bruce he had the voice for it. So he figured, what the heck, he'd give it a try.
After a brief stint working at a small FM radio station in Sioux Falls, he moved to Sioux City and went to work as a booth announcer at KTIV, basically an off-screen voice reading "live" commercials and other announcements. It was a tricky task reading 40-second commercials in 30 seconds, he said, but it proved to be good training.
The hours were also a little tough, working six days, a total of 48 hours a week.
In 1974, he joined the newsroom as a reporter. As an ex-farm boy, the agriculture beat proved to be a natural fit, he said. Eventually he took on more general assignment work. and he loved all of it.
Scheid can't remember his first big story. They all tend to blur. But some stories stand out, such as the crash of United Airlines Flight 232, just because of their emotional impact, he said. Another story involving the holiday house-fire deaths of four children in Sioux City nearly 30 years ago also affected him deeply. "It was freezing weather. The mother was there. Her children had just died in a fire. It was a very tough story to cover," he said.
The station was still using black-and-white film occasionally back in the 1970s, he noted. The technological changes he has seen in his 37 years in the business have been incredible, Scheid said. "The machinery was so different in those days," he said. "It was like comparing a huge IBM computer to a laptop now."
KTIV didn't have the early morning or 5 p.m. newscasts back then either, he noted.
When he started at the station, one goal was to get a college degree and not waste the opportunity provided by the G.I. Bill benefits he had earned. Dealing with a newborn son from his first marriage and those 48-hour weeks, he tried going to college full time, too, but soon realized how insane that was. So he cut back on his study load at Briar Cliff College (now University), and after six years, he had his bachelor's degree in English.
He also stuck with the military, joining the 185th Iowa Air National Guard when he moved to Sioux City. After 22 years with the Guard, he retired in 2001 as Maj. Scheid.
Being a familiar face to thousands of Siouxlanders, Scheid said he never resented the attention he got in public over the years.
"It does give you the opportunity to become friends with people you don't know," he said. "People come up and start chatting, and that's great. They still do that even now that I'm retired."
Flat on his back
Bruce Scheid wasn't planning to retire at 60, but chronic back pain that started 10 years ago and included a couple of herniated discs made going to work an impossibility last spring. He eventually used up all his sick leave.
"The pain had progressed to the point where, earlier this year, it became just debilitating," Scheid said.
Three trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and several visits with specialists and neurologists have convinced him the disc problem is an inoperable one due to the placement of the two discs. Even if he survived the surgery, there is no guarantee his back would be better, he said. Between medication and ongoing physical therapy, he is hoping for enough improvement to get out of bed more. It is where he spends most of his time these days, flat on his ailing back.
As an Army Signal Corps vet who served in Vietnam from January 1968 to March 1969, Scheid said there is a possibility that his condition was aggravated by exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide developed by the military to defoliate trees and shrubbery where the enemy could hide. That could explain the nerve damage that has made his recovery so daunting, Scheid said. But he admits it is just a theory that probably can't be proved. He is hoping for some answers when he sees a Veterans Administration doctor next month at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls.
"Thank goodness, we have one person who can continue to work in this family," Scheid said of his wife, Linda, executive director of the Food Bank of Siouxland.
He also gets a lot of support from his three sons: Marty, 35, of Council Bluffs; and Adam, 18, and Gabriel 16, both students at North High School.
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