GRAND RAPIDS, MI – He was a news man who always had a vision, his former colleagues say.
With that vision, Werner Veit helped bring the news to newspaper subscribers in Michigan and shape the next generation of journalists.
Veit, a former president of Booth Newspapers Inc., the parent company of The Grand Rapids Press and seven other Michigan dailies, died Sept. 13, 2022. He was 93.
Veit emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1940. He attended Grand Rapids Central High School, performing in school plays and editing the school newspaper.
In the journalism industry, Veit fulfilled what many would consider a successful career. He interviewed U.S. presidents and state prison rioters. His name is etched into a hall of fame. His work was instrumental to his community.
“He once claimed to know about all things except agriculture and aerodynamics which only suggests that he started keeping track backwards, trying to satisfy his insatiable curiosity about everything from Z to B,” Veit’s obituary reads.
His career began as a sports reporter at the Grand Rapids Herald in 1949. Veit later transitioned to The Grand Rapids Press. While at The Press, he launched the newspaper’s first Sunday edition at the age of 26.
Eleven years later, at 37, he was named editor-in-chief of the Grand Rapids Press and ultimately publisher and president of the company.
“He believed in local news,” said Mike Lloyd, a former editor of The Press and friend of Veit. “He believed in the mission of journalism.”
MLive/The Grand Rapids Press contacted a couple of Veit’s longtime coworkers, who each remembered him for the tenacity he brought to the work environment.
When Veit was named president of Booth Newspapers in 1978, he selected Lloyd to succeed him. It was a decision, Lloyd said, that made his entire career.
“He was very much a visionary, very much looking forward person,” Lloyd said.
Veit, a U.S. Army veteran, was also responsible for bringing in the next generation of reporters at The Press.
“He was in a spot where he filled a lot of staffing openings of people who had turned over from the post-World War II generation,” Lloyd said. “Our senior colleagues were people who were either of World War II or Korean (War) and they were all phasing out as we ‘kids’ came in.”
“He hired a lot of young people. A lot of talented people,” he added. “They went on to become leaders at all the Booth Newspapers.”
Booth Newspapers consisted of The Grand Rapids Press, The Flint Journal, The Ann Arbor News, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Jackson Citizen Patriot, The Bay City Times and The Saginaw News.
Among the talent working side-by-side with Veit was Dan Gaydou, former MLive president and former publisher of The Grand Rapids Press.
Gaydou described Veit as someone who always inspired his team to do bigger and better things.
“Werner was incredibly wise and his intelligence was off the chart,” he said. “He was always working in his mind, ‘What could be next?’”
Veit joined the list of other great journalists when he was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 1966.
Of newspapers, Veit said, “They have to be a unifying force for all the conflicting challenges our society faces. They must be a champion for those who cannot easily champion themselves. They must be a forum for the voice of others.”
Veit retired in 1995, ending a decades-long run.
Outside of the journalism world, Veit and his late wife, Marianne, were big supporters of arts, civic, social and environmental causes in Michigan. Veit also was someone who knew a lot about nature and its creatures.
“We used to kid with him about his bird-watching,” Lloyd said. “He knew more about various kinds of birds than anyone I ever met.”
Though he will be missed by many, Veit’s legacy will continue to carry on through others.
“Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for your faith in me,” Lloyd said as a final message. “Thank you for giving me my career.”
“He was a tremendous man and he was one that left his mark wherever he went,” Gaydou said.
Veit is survived by his son, Anthony, two daughters Tamilyn Kraeger and Andrea Schreiber, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
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