Bill Kuster Explained

Bill Kuster
Birth Date:9 May 1930
Birth Place:Fernville, Pennsylvania, US
Death Place:Littleton, Colorado, US
Alma Mater:Pennsylvania State University
Occupation:Television meteorologist
Spouse:Dottie
Children:2

Bill Kuster (May 9, 1930[1] – August 12, 2006) was an American television meteorologist. He was a weather forecaster at KYW-TV in Philadelphia from 1963 to 1979 and KUSA in Denver from 1979 to 1996.

Biography

Early life and education

William E. Kuster was born on May 9, 1930, in Fernville, Pennsylvania.[2] The Kuster family later moved to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, where he briefly attended Bloomsburg State College. He served for four years in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War before earning a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1956 from Pennsylvania State University.

Career

Bill Kuster's broadcast career began with a six-month period at WARM (AM) in Scranton as a substitute game show host and weatherman. He next worked at WGAL in Lancaster as a weatherman and assistant news director.

In 1963, he moved to the Philadelphia area and joined KYW-TV as a weekend weatherman. He started a vegetable garden, dubbed Kuster's Garden, at the station in 1975.

After he left KYW in 1979, he moved to Denver, Colorado, station KUSA-TV. He worked as KUSA's weekday and weekend weathercaster until his retirement in 1996. He continued the tradition of his Kuster Garden in Denver and expanded it to enlist a restaurateur to prepare meals with the annual harvest for Denver-area homeless shelters.[3]

Marriage and children

Bill married the former Dottie Zettle . The couple had two children, son Marc and daughter Kim.

Death and afterward

Kuster died on August 12, 2006, following a battle with leukemia.[4]

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Kuster posthumously into their Hall of Fame in 2008.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Birth date from Social Security Death Index.
  2. News: Cathy . Cipolla . Bill Kuster: Weatherman extraordinare . The Daily Collegian . 1976-02-13 . 2008-09-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111004005847/http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Default/Skins/BasicArch/Client.asp?Skin=BasicArch&&AppName=2&enter=true&BaseHref=DCG%2F1976%2F02%2F13&EntityId=Ar00900 . 2011-10-04 . dead .
  3. News: Dusty . Saunders . Bill Kuster, green-thumbed weatherman . Rocky Mountain News . 2006-08-16 . 2008-09-06 .
  4. News: Popular TV Weather Forecaster Bill Kuster Dies . KMGH-TV . 2006-08-13 . 2008-09-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060929013652/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9672022/detail.html . 2006-09-29 . dead .