Inducted 1996
president, Booth NewspapersÂ
Werner Veit
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.