Legendary WHEC-TV reporter Warren Doremus dies at age 91

• Warren Doremus served in the army in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
• Doremus began his reporting career in 1946 at WHEC-AM radio and then moved into television.
• Doremus won a du-Pont Columbia award in 1975 for his series of stories about the 1964 race riots.

His voice made him a distinctive figure in local media for more than four decades, and it also captivated the woman whom Warren Doremus ultimately married.

Mr. Doremus, one of the most respected television journalists Rochester has ever known, died Monday due to complications stemming from a fall early last week. He was 91.

“The day after Father’s Day he took a fall,” his son, Wyatt said. “He loved being on his patio just off his kitchen. Neighbors found him, called the ambulance, but they don’t know how long he’d been lying there. He was seriously injured. He had been hanging in there for the better part of a week, but over the last few days he wasn’t responding to the efforts in the trauma center at Strong and he slipped away today.”

When Mr. Doremus retired from WHEC-TV (Channel 10) in 1991, the Democrat and Chronicle profiled the longtime reporter, news director and program director. His wife, the former Jean Schlottman, recalled their first meeting, which had been set up by her uncle, who had served in the military with Mr. Doremus.

World War II had ended only a few months earlier, Mr. Doremus had finished his hitch in the Army’s 45th Infantry, which included combat in the Battle of the Bulge, and he accompanied his friend Wayne Harris back to Harris’ hometown of Rochester. Once here, Doremus, who was from Jersey City, New Jersey, happened to see a picture of Jean and asked for an introduction. Harris complied, a week later they were married, and they were together until Jean died in 2011.

“I just kept asking him to talk,” said Jean, who was only 17 years old when they met. “I was just fascinated by him. He had this wonderful, middle-aged man’s voice in a 20-year-old man’s body.”

That voice became a staple in Rochester, first on WHEC-AM radio, and then WHEC-TV, as familiar locally as the newsman Doremus patterned his cadence and tone after, CBS’ Walter Cronkite.

“Warren was the consummate journalist, the consummate pro,” said New York state Sen. Rich Funke, formerly a sports and news anchor at WHEC. “He taught all of us a lot about getting it right; he was passionate about getting it right, and passionate about doing the right things.”

Funke had several fond remembrances of Mr. Doremus.

“He was the fastest one-finger typist in the free world,” Funke said with a laugh. “He typed with one finger in the days when we had typewriters. It was the funniest damn thing, but he would knock it out with one finger as fast as anyone else would with both hands.”

Funke also recalled Mr. Doremus’ annual visit to turkey farms the day before Thanksgiving. He would go out and ask the turkeys various questions, often seeking their thoughts on the issues of the day, and almost as if on cue, when he turned the microphone their way, they would gobble. Funke said you had to see it to appreciate it.

Former WHEC news anchor Janet Lomax was hired by Mr. Doremus in 1980. She was working at a station in Louisville, Kentucky, at the time, and she’ll never forget her first encounter, not only because of his voice, but also his attire.

“Warren had a distinctive broadcaster's voice,” said Lomax, who retired late last year, and had just seen Mr. Doremus at a luncheon with other WHEC employees past and present in April. “He came down and at the time I didn’t know that Warren was a wine connoisseur. He made sure I selected a restaurant that had a wonderful wine list, and I remember thinking, ‘What kind of news director was this?’ And then I walked in and there was this distinguished gentleman seated. He had a black cashmere or wool coat with a white scarf around his neck. He didn’t look like a news director to me.”

For many years Mr. Doremus was the companion for Eddie Meath on the latter’s popular morning show. They had a Johnny Carson-Ed McMahon type of on-air relationship, Meath conducting lighthearted interviews with guests, and Mr. Doremus providing news updates while also joining Meath for casual on-air banter.

Mr. Doremus was the guiding force behind Rochester’s version of Crime Stoppers, an international organization that solves crimes of all sorts, including murders. A dramatization of the crimes were broadcast, and viewers were asked to phone in tips if they recognized any of the details. If their information led to an arrest, they were rewarded.

Perhaps Mr. Doremus’ crowning journalistic achievement was his series of documentaries on Rochester’s race riots in 1964. Produced in 1974 and titled "The Riots Plus 10 Years," Mr. Doremus won the 1975 duPont-Columbia award, broadcasting’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.

“Warren was a newsman’s newsman,” said Lomax. “He was a wonderful boss, mentor, and friend. Warren’s impact on TV news locally was tremendous. Everybody knew Warren Doremus.”

In retirement, Mr. Doremus enjoyed traveling with his wife, and cooking, plus taking care of his six grandchildren, who have since produced three great-grandchildren with another on the way.

“He had a fairly active lifestyle. Mostly he and my mom loved to travel and they went everywhere,” said Wyatt Doremus. “He did all the financial stuff for his grandchildren. If you wanted to buy a new car, he was the guy you’d want working the deal because he would wear down the car dealers until they just gave in. He had a great interest in all of his grandkids. He taught me an awful lot about the English language and the love of using it, and also of seeing every side of an issue.”

Wyatt Doremus said there will not be a funeral. Instead, there will be a memorial service held in September. Wyatt suggested those wishing to make a charitable donation in his father’s name do so to Camp Good Days.

MAIORANA@Gannett.com