Longtime Tri-City Herald reporter, wine writer and community advocate Bob Woehler died today of complications from blood clots he had been fighting for several months.
He was 79.
Woehler wrote his first wine-related assignment covering the opening of Preston Premium Wines in Pasco in 1976, and became one of the state's earliest wine writers with his column "Woehler on Wine," which started in 1978.
"As a wine writer, he was honest in what he perceived," said Coke Roth, a Kennewick lawyer and former owner of Roth Distributing, a beer and wine distributor in the Tri-Cities and Moses Lake. "He tasted a lot of crummy wines, especially in the early days, but he never said anything bad about them publicly. He was a real gentleman all the way around."
Woehler started working for the Herald in 1967 and retired in 1994 but continued writing about wine.
When he stopped writing "Woehler on Wine" last year, he said "I never dreamed when I started writing about the Washington wine industry in 1978 that it would be a lifetime joy for me."
Woehler was tasting editor for Wine Press Northwest since its launch in 1998, and wrote two columns per issue for the magazine. One column, "Bargain Bob," focused on low-priced wines, and the other, "Vintage Musings" looked at wineries that have been around the industry for many years.
His last two columns will appear in the fall issue of Wine Press Northwest, which comes out next month.
Woehler also was an avid supporter of projects, programs and organizations in Kennewick and was a longtime member of the Kennewick Kiwanis Club. He was named the 2004 Kennewick Man of the Year and was the grand marshal for the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo parade in 1994.
Woehler graduated from Kennewick High School in 1950 and joined the Navy. He served in Korea and returned to the Tri-Cities when he was discharged. He retired from the Naval Reserves as a lieutenant commander.
He was a charter member of Columbia Basin College in 1955 and graduated from the University of Washington in 1959 with a degree in communications.
He held radio newscaster and newspaper reporting jobs in Omak, Renton, Othello, Pendleton, Hermiston and Cottage Grove, Ore., in addition to the Tri-City Herald.
Woehler is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Joyce, four children, Judy, Rebecca, Andrew and Thomas, four grandchildren, a brother, Dave, and a sister, Mary.
A service is planned for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Kennewick. Arrangements are by Mueller's Tri-Cities Funeral Home in Kennewick.
For the full story, see Thursday's Herald and tricityherald.com.
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