After months of complications following a fall in January, Ed Godfrey passed away peacefully on June 18, 2019, with the love of his life, Sue, and his son by his side. Milton Edwin Godfrey, Jr. was born in Titusville, PA on February 4, 1931, to Milton Edwin Godfrey, Sr. and Grace Wilson Godfrey. Ed moved with his military family nearly 20 times by the time he graduated from Harrisburg High School.
Mr. Godfrey attended Penn State University but was called to duty during the Korean War. He served for 2 ½ years as an office administrator, stationed in Japan. With funds through the G.I. bill he pursued his degree in Journalism and Public Relations from the University of Maryland. While attending college, he met his future wife, Sue. They married in 1957 and embarked on a life together they could never have imagined.
Ed Godfrey launched into a successful career in television news which includes moves to Miami, FL, Houston, TX, Portland, OR, Atlanta, GA, and finally Louisville, KY. With each move, Godfrey achieved accolades: Documentary awards, Best of Louisville, and most notably an Emmy for Excellence in Television News in 1979.
Ed can be remembered for his integrity in journalism. A staunch defender of the First Amendment, he showed tenderness for victims experiencing tragic loss. His reporters were discouraged from getting sound bites from victims, to mitigate “hype” and inflated ratings.
Godfrey could best be described as a “gentlemen’s gentleman”. He never failed to stand when a woman entered the room, hold her chair, or honor his word when he gave it.
Remember “Entertainment Tonight”? Under the direction of Ed’s news department, KGW-TV launched “Evening,” the first magazine format program on TV in 1975. Ed was progressive and always open to new ideas that would promote his station to the number one (#1) position. Ed served as President and Chair of the Radio, Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) in the early 80’s.
Aside from his exemplary career in news, Godfrey’s passions were golf, reading, desserts, cats and Christmas. He loved slapstick comedy such as the “Three Stooges,” which his children never quite understood. Ed can be remembered for “never smiling” and giving the benefit of the doubt to help someone. Though quiet, Ed was a great story teller and very funny.
Ed loved a great dining experience, and though he may share he was a vegetarian, those of you that met him for lunch may have noticed he ordered any kind of a beef or dessert.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Susan Godfrey Monroe, and his brother, Richard Earl Godfrey. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Sue Godfrey, his daughter Amanda Godfrey Kayler (Boise, ID), his son, Michael Edwin Godfrey (Louisville, KY), and grandchildren, Chase Donald Kayler (Irvine, CA), Maggie Alayne Patterson, Alex Michael Godfrey, and Emily Brooke Godfrey, of Louisville.
The Memorial Service will be held Sunday, June 30, 2019 at 2 PM at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1206 Maple Ln., Anchorage, KY 40223.
A reception will be held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church after the Memorial Service.
