Longtime WISH Reporter Dick Wolfsie To Retire

Circle City Broadcasting’s CW affiliate WISH Indianapolis (DMA 25) today announced that reporter Dick Wolfsie will be retiring after 30 years at the station and more than 40 years in Indianapolis.

WISH will celebrate his career with A Legend Retires … A Week with Wolfsie beginning Monday, July 27.  Memorable stories and contributions from Wolfsie will be featured throughout the week in Daybreak and News 8 at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., with the tribute culminating in a 30-minute, retrospective Friday, July 31, at 6:30 p.m.  Anchored by retired WISH anchor David Barras, the special will feature a look back at Wolfsie’s career, sharing some memories and visits from longtime co-workers Randy Ollis and Patty Spitler.

“Dick has been a familiar face of Indianapolis television for 30 years,” said DuJuan McCoy, WISH owner, president, and CEO. “He will be greatly missed by viewers in the community and the scores of newsroom staff he has worked with throughout his decades of service to News 8.”

Wolfsie has been a mainstay of WISH since 1990, serving fulltime as a feature reporter on Daybreak until 2010 and as a Weekend Daybreak contributor from 2010 to 2020.  On Daybreak, he was known for his on-air antics with anchor Barras and meteorologist Randy Ollis. Wolfsie adopted Barney the beagle in 1991 who was his reporting companion for more than 13 years.

“Dick is a true local TV treasure,” according to WISH News Director Al Carl.  “He’s completed more than 7,000 reports for WISH-TV, each one filled with humor and humanity.”

Prior to joining the WISH team, Wolfsie hosted talk shows in Boston, New York, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio. Dick also hosted AM Indiana from 1989 to 1991 live from Union Station in downtown Indianapolis.

Wolfsie is an Emmy and Casper award winner. His weekly humor column is published in more than 25 newspapers. He’s the author of 12 travel and humor books, including Mornings with Barney and Indiana Curiosities, a collection of the most off-the-wall people and places in the state. His newest book, The Right Fluff, is a compilation of his most popular humor columns.

Wolfsie said: “How lucky I am to have had a job at WISH-TV that I loved doing for 30 years. I would have been lousy at … well, anything else.”