Austin C. Wehrwein

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Wehrwein, Austin C. whose loves included newspapers, family, and the St. Anthony Park neighborhood in St. Paul where he lived for the past 30 years, died at home on April 29 of congestive heart failure. He was 92. Born in Austin, TX, and raised in Madison, WI (another love), Austin won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1953 as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. He was the Chicago bureau chief for the New York Times from 1957 to 1966 and an editorial writer for the Minneapolis Star from 1966 to 1982. As a freelancer, he wrote for the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, the Economist, the Times of London, and other publications. He graduated from University of Wisconsin in 1937 and from Columbia Law School in 1940. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946 and was on the Stars and Stripes in Shanghai from 1945 to 1946. After the war, Austin worked for the Marshall Plan in London, where he met his beautiful English bride and wife for the past 57 years, Judith nee Oakes "without a doubt the brightest and best move I ever made," he wrote in a memoir. Survivors include sons Sven (Mary Ann Dorsher) of Minneapolis, Paul of St. Paul, Peter (Pam Ozaroff) of Newton, MA, and a daughter, Joanna (Dave Logan) of Seattle; grandchildren Zachary, Frances, Lucas, Tim, Neal, David, Johnny, Anna, and Ethan; and nieces, Ann and Kathy Lindbeck. A memorial service will be held May 24 at 2 p.m. at the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel in Minneapolis. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to the University of Wisconsin Foundation/ School of Journalism.

Published on May 4, 2008