Jerry Taff, the iconic news anchor whose distinctive bass voice and signature sign-off became synonymous with Milwaukee television for more than two decades, died Monday, October 27, 2025, at his home in Texas. He was 85.
Taff served as lead news anchor at WISN Channel 12, Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, from 1979 to 2005. During his 26-year tenure, he became a fixture in southeastern Wisconsin households, ending each broadcast with his memorable phrase: “Good night, and better tomorrows.”
Born in Lamesa, Texas, in 1940, Taff began his broadcasting career at age 17 at his hometown radio station, WPET-AM. His journey through the media landscape included stops in Dallas, Flint, Michigan, and New Haven, Connecticut, before he arrived in Milwaukee and found his professional home.
By 1980, Taff had become part of an anchor team that propelled WISN-12 to first place in audience ratings among local 10 p.m. newscasts. His career at the station experienced an unusual turn in early 1985 when he was fired, only to be asked to return in 1987 after ratings had declined during his absence.
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 their friendship through retirement, continuing to exchange emails.
In one recent email describing a medical operation he had undergone, 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 formed her first impression of Taff when she was hired to start a newscast at Milwaukee’s Channel 18. While reviewing other local news shows to understand the Milwaukee market, she recalled seeing Taff reporting from Paris, accompanying an Oak Creek mother whose son was being held hostage in Iran. To ultimately share the anchor desk with such a larger-than-life figure proved incredible, she indicated.
During his Milwaukee years, Taff’s work extended beyond the television screen. In the late 1980s, in addition to co-anchoring two of WISN-12’s evening reports, he delivered four early morning newscasts on WISN-AM. He also DJ’d a weekly hour of Elvis Presley music on WOKY-AM.
Taff covered major stories throughout his career, from international events in Cuba and Tel Aviv to national political conventions and the aftermath of devastating storms. His reporting took him across the globe, documenting significant moments that shaped the news landscape of southeastern Wisconsin.
A 2005 profile before his retirement described Taff as having a basso profundo voice that came from an older school of anchors. In that interview, he joked about becoming an unlikely celebrity around Milwaukee, noting he was not pretty, not especially smart, and certainly polarizing, yet Milwaukee had taken him in.
His polarizing nature was evident in a 1990s viewer survey conducted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where Taff placed first as the city’s least favorite anchor and second as favorite, demonstrating the strong reactions he elicited from viewers.
Despite never feeling that any place totally felt like home, Taff acknowledged in his 2005 interview that Milwaukee felt more like home than anyplace else. After his retirement, he returned to Texas, settling in Lubbock, where he reconnected with childhood friends and embraced anonymity.
In retirement, Taff volunteered with Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to 14 people every Thursday. He spent time with friends he had known since third grade and enjoyed the simple pleasures of everyday life in West Texas.
WISN-12 chief meteorologist Mark Baden, who stayed in touch with Taff throughout his retirement, wrote on Facebook that Taff was one of a kind. Baden noted that Taff loved Milwaukee and loved all of his viewers, adding his own farewell to his former colleague using Taff’s iconic phrase: “Good night and better tomorrows to you, JT.”
Taff’s presence meant something to colleagues during both professional and personal hardships, including being there for Mykleby during her mother’s death and her husband’s death in 2023. His impact extended far beyond the television screen, touching countless lives throughout southeastern Wisconsin during his quarter-century career at the station.
