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Colleagues
suggest that perhaps Werner Veit's greatest impact was on people.
"He was a willing sounding board and shared his knowledge and experience
with all of them," said Sandy Petykiewicz, Jackson Citizen Patriot
editor. Veit was born in 1929 in Stuttgart, Germany. He attended Grand
Rapids Central High School, Grand Rapids Junior College and graduated
from the University of Maryland. After serving in the U.S. Army, Veit
returned to Grand Rapids, where he began his career as a sports reporter
at the Grand Rapids Herald in 1949. During the next 10 years,
Veit's career blossomed, as he served as state editor, news editor
and managing editor. Moving to the Grand Rapids Press in 1959,
Veit established its Sunday edition. He became managing editor in
1963 and editor three years later, a position he held for 12 years.
In 1978, he became publisher of the Grand Rapids Press and
president of Booth Newspapers. "Werner's impact on those papers ranged
from his appointment of many editors and publishers to his leadership
in bringing new technology that changed the way they operated," Petykiewicz
commented. Veit is a people-person in every sense of the word. His
past contributions to the Grand Rapids community include service on
the Ford presidential museum committee, United Way of Kent and the
West Michigan Tourist Association. Veit also served as president of
the Associated Press Editorial Association and University Press Club
of Michigan. In addition, he was a member of the American Society
of Newspaper Editors and American Newspaper Publishers Association.
Veit retired in 1995.
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