The hall of fame announced its 2019 inductees on Monday, May 6.
WHIO will be well-represented among the dozen broadcasters to be honored at the ceremony set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19 at the NCR Country Club, 4435 Dogwood Trail in Kettering.
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WHIO inductees include anchor Letitia Perry, former sportscaster Don Brown; retired WHIO videographers Dee Moorman and Byron Stirsman; former news producer Terry Lafferty; co-host Jim Manley and Donna Hall, a former general sales manager, vice president and general manager of WHIO Radio.
Hall is now vice president of marketing, audience and newspaper operations for Cox Media Group Atlanta.
WHIO-TV and WHIO Radio are part of Cox Media Group Ohio, which also includes Dayton.com, Springfield News Sun, Dayton Daily News and the Journal-News.
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The hall of fame honors broadcasters and people who have been a friend of the media and leaders in the community bi-annually.
Attorney Dennis Lieberman and Montgomery County Commissioner Deborah Lieberman will receive Community Service awards.
The broadcasters will be included on the Wall of Fame on the second floor southwest wall of the Dayton Convention Center.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley will receive a special recognition for helping secure a permanent home for the hall or fame in the convention center.
Tickets to the hall of fame award dinner are $75 per person. A table of eight can be purchased for $700. For more information, send an email to rethaphillips.com@earthlink.net.
The following is the list of the honorees with biographical information provided by Dayton Area Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Letitia Perry
Perry is one of the best-known and well-loved news personalities in the Dayton region. She fell in love with broadcasting at Meadowdale High School in Dayton. Perry went on to Central Michigan University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, with a focus in journalism. From Michigan, she took a job at WCBE Public Radio in Columbus, where she covered her biggest story, the Lucasville prison riot of 1993. She returned to Dayton in 1995, accepting the News Director position with Hawes Saunders broadcast properties WROU & WBNB radio. Hosting many community events, Perry was spotted by officials with WHIO-TV, who asked her to join their team. Today, she is the anchor for WHIO-TV’s morning and noon newscasts. She is a much sought-after emcee and speaker and gives generously of her time to numerous community events and organizations.
Don Brown
Brown began his broadcasting career working at WHIO radio part-time, while attending Wright State University. He got his taste of sports announcing as the co-host analyst for WHIO Radio high school games. Brown later joined the team at WKEF-TV and eventually became the host of the local Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon after the Late Johnny Walker stepped down. As host, Brown helped raise money not just for the Jerry Lewis Telethon but for countless other charities throughout the Miami Valley. He later returned to WHIO-TV to serve as a part-time sportscaster.
Byron Stirsman
Stirsman served as the special project producer/videographer at WHIO-TV for many years and his work behind the scenes garnered him numerous awards, including first-place National News Photographers Association; two-time Ohio News Photographers Association of the Year honoree, 21 Emmy awards and twice he was the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award. He started at WHIO-TV in 1979 and quickly established himself as a hardworking news videographer with an eye for quality work and an unmatched ability to work with any reporter to get the best results. He retired in 2018.
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Donna Hall
Hall served as general sales manager, vice president and general manager of WHIO Radio. During her tenure at WHIO Radio, she partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network to launch the Cares for Kids Radiothon. Over the 22 years of the radiothon, listeners have donated more than $4 million dollars to Dayton Children’s Hospital. Hall was one of the first general managers with Cox Media to switch the music station to wall-to-wall coverage when the United States came under attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Hall worked tirelessly to maintain Cox’s relationship with the University of Dayton to remain the “Home of the Dayton Flyers.” Now living in Atlanta, Hall said she still considers Dayton her home.
Dee Moorman
Moorman is an icon as a news videographer in Dayton. She started part-time at WHIO-TV as a production technician, operating studio cameras, adjusting lighting and set arrangement. After convincing then WHIO News Director Jack Hurley to hire her as a videographer, she became one of two women to use film cameras. Soon after, Moorman began using large videotape cameras. Moorman has won numerous state and local awards in videography. She became one of the few women in broadcasting to operate a live truck, shooting video, editing and turning out quality work. Moorman recently retired after 42 years of service.
Terry Lafferty
Lafferty got his break in the broadcast industry at WPTW in Piqua. Oscar Baker, the father of WHIO reporter Steve Baker, was the station manager and gave Lafferty his first break into radio. In 1970, Lafferty joined the WING radio news department. It was there Lafferty made a name for himself. He and Kathy O'Connor Bow became the first airborne-duo traffic reporters with the Skywatch traffic reports. In 1980, Lafferty was hired by Winston Hoehner to join the WHIO Radio team and began his tenure as news producer. For the next 20 years at WHIO, Lafferty was dedicated to the community, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, a reader for Words and as the audio engineer for his church. Today, Lafferty is a news anchor for WPTW in Piqua. He is one of the few local broadcasters with over 50 years in broadcasting.
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Jim Manley
As a young man in Toledo, Manley would duct-tape a transmission radio to his head while riding his bike and dream of a job in radio. His dream became a reality in 1983 when he got his first commercial radio job at WTUE Radio. From this position, his career expanded to other stations in the Dayton/Miami Valley area such as with the WHIO Morning show with Lou Emm. Manley launched a new format at K99.1FM. He left broadcasting in 1999 to become the in-house agent for Fricker's restaurants. He remained involved in the community, emceeing numerous charity events such as the Easter Seals Radiothon with radio personality and Hall of Famer David G. MacFarland. Still with Fricker's restaurants, Manley has donated tens of thousands of gift cards and food to endless charitable organizations.
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Larry Coressel
Coressel has worked as the morning anchor at Dayton Public radio station WDPR since 1987. Having moved through the ranks for many years, he has held various positions including station operation manager, production manager and public service director. In addition to his role at WDPR, Coressel has been an avid supporter of arts and cultural organizations throughout the region.
Thomas (Tom) Carroll
Carroll has had a legendary career as program director. It was Carroll who paired Christopher Geisen with Steve Kerrigan as the morning show team at WTUE Radio. He made WTUE the soundtrack for the city with free concerts at Island Park, Hara Arena, Courthouse Square and the Ervin J. Nutter Center. Under Carroll's leadership, WTUE Radio became one of the leaders in serving the community. It was under Carroll's management that WTUE won the coveted album-oriented Rock Station trophy of the year.
Barbara Kerr
In the 1970s, when women still struggled to make strides in broadcast news, Kerr was one of the early pioneers. Kerr joined WHAG TV in Hagerstown, Md. as an anchor/reporter and became its first female news director. Kerr left Youngstown to migrate to a larger market, Dayton. She joined WDTN-TV as a general assignment reporter, soon after also serving in the news anchor role. One of her most memorable assignments was traveling to West Point to cover the return of the Iranian hostages from Tehran after 444 days in captivity. While in Dayton, she was very involved in the community becoming an ambassador for the arts.
Art Brown (posthumously)
Brown's first job in broadcasting was with a radio station in his hometown of Terre Haute, Ind. at only 16 years of age. After serving in the Marines, Art's interest in broadcasting was renewed working at a number of radio and TV stations until he got his big break at KRON-TV in San Francisco. While in San Francisco, Art was featured as a television newsman in the 1973 film Magnum Force, starring Clint Eastwood. In 1974, Art came to Dayton to anchor the 11 p.m. news on WDTN. His warmth and professionalism made him a popular personality in Dayton.
Ricky Boyd (posthumously)
Boyd is best known as being a true community servant. He enriched the community through his broadcast medical programs for over 40 years. He began at WDAO Radio with the Medicine Chest Show and later at WGTV-TV, the city of Dayton government channel with his program “To Your Health.” Ricky used his platform as the first African American to serve as a director at the Combined Health District (Dayton Montgomery County Public Health) to heighten awareness about critical health issues and initiatives. He successfully petitioned the name change of the West Dayton Health Care Center to the Dr. Charles Drew Health Center. Ricky was also responsible for a series of community programs including the creation of the first-aid education program for women on the streets, the first Westown Shopping Center Health Fair and creating the first home visiting program for pregnant women to receive prenatal care. He volunteered countless hours to the Mary Scott Nursing home.
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Dennis and Debbie Lieberman (Community Service Awards)
An experienced and well-respected attorney, Dennis Lieberman practices law in the areas of criminal defense and civil litigation. He has tried a substantial amount of cases in both state and federal courts. Outside of the courthouse, he is just as active in his community. During the 2012 election, he campaigned tirelessly to keep early voting in Ohio to make sure every vote is counted. In addition to his work on the board of elections, Lieberman was also Montgomery County Democratic Party chair for 13 years and a candidate for the Ohio Democratic Party chair. Today, Lieberman is a member of the City of Clayton Council. He currently serves his community by educating the next generation of lawyers teaching litigation skills as an Adjunct Professor at his alma mater, University of Dayton School of Law. Lieberman has volunteered to assist high school mock trial teams and has served on a number of local charitable boards.
After graduating from the University of Dayton School of Law, Debbie Lieberman worked in real estate and with Legal Aid Society of Dayton. Lieberman joined the Montgomery County Auditor's Office as director of real estate. She served in that position for 10 years before becoming the chief deputy auditor in 2001. Lieberman served on the first City of Clayton Council and was re-elected in 2001. She was elected to the Montgomery County Commission in 2004 and is currently in her fourth term. Lieberman co-chairs with U.S. Judge Walter Rice, the Montgomery County Reentry Council.Lieberman is a member of the Dayton Regional STEM Collaborative board, focused on enhancing regional STEM education assets. She serves on the Downtown Dayton Partnership Board. Lieberman co-chaired the Culture Connects 20/20 Committee and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.
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