Retired Good Morning Cincinnati anchor John Lomax, who died Tuesday at age 72, was remembered by coworkers past and present as “the heart and soul” of WKRC-TV, a generous and wise father figure affectionately called “The Godfather” of the Local 12 newsroom.
“There was not a nicer, more kind, or more talented man in television,” former news anchor Rob Braun posted on Facebook.
“For 40 years, he was the heart and soul of this television station because he so freely shared his heart and soul with all of us, and all of you,” said anchor Paula Toti on the 11 p.m. news Tuesday.
”He was the glue that held that morning show together for so many years – just a steady presence, with his advice, with his wisdom that he offered,” said meteorologist John Gumm, who worked on the morning show with Lomax before being promoted to chief meteorologist after Tim Hedrick’s death in 2016.
Lomax retired two years ago after anchoring Good Morning Cincinnati for 32 years of his four decades at the station. The Knoxville native was hired away from a station in his hometown in 1983 by WKRC-TV to cover Northern Kentucky.
“I came here thinking this station was a steppingstone to my next job, that I'd head somewhere else in the country after a few years,” he told me in a 2022 interview reflecting on his career. “I fell in love the place and never really wanted to leave."
The Lomax family, in a social media post, said that Lomax “went to the ED (Emergency Department) for what was diagnosed as pneumonia. He was admitted (to a hospital) for a longer stay due to an unknown issue involving elevated enzymes and, somewhere along the line, a number of minimal health concerns combusted into that which took him away physically.
“We can’t say we were prepared, this was a terrible and unfortunate surprise. We know this is going to be a hard thing for many of our friends and family to hear about. But know that we are all grieving together . . . If it helps, we’ve been talking to him all day. We hope you find comfort in the same, and in reflection of the memories with which he left you. Such a gift,” said the post signed by his wife Donna, children Brandon and Lindsay, and his grandchildren.
Retired anchor Kit Andrews said on Facebook that Lomax always “had time for everyone. Always a kind word. John Lomax is gone and I (along with countless others) am bereft . . . Words can’t fully express the loss of this fine man.”
Lomax spent most of his career as a Channel 12 anchor. Shortly after he established himself at the station, his bosses used Lomax frequently to fill in on the anchor desk, including a six-month stint as weekend sports anchor. For November sweeps in 1990, his temporary assignment to co-anchor Good Morning Cincinnati with Jill Kelly became permanent when the early newscast was only one hour. (Now it's more than 5-1/2 hours, from 4:25 to 10 a.m.)
Lomax called himself “one of the last ‘80s kids” hired under anchor-managing editor Nick Clooney. Those young journalists – Andrews, Howard Ain, Kit Andrews, Denny Janson, Edie Magnus, Steve Forrest, George Ciccarone, Dan Royal, Randy Little and Karla Stanley – provided the reports which helped Clooney’s 11 p.m. newscast end Al Schottelkotte’s 22-year streak at No. 1 for WCPO.
When those coworkers moved on, Lomax became the newsroom mentor for matters on the air – and off the air – earning him “The Godfather” nickname.
“He was a like a second dad to me. When I lost my father, I can remember turning to John about things I’d turn to my dad about,” said an emotional Bob Herzog on Tuesday’s newscast. He co-anchored Good Morning Cincinnati with Lomax for 16 years.
When Lomax announced his retirement two years ago, Herzog told me: “It’s very difficult to express just how much John means to me. It is one of the greatest blessings of my life that I’ve spent 16-plus years with him in that studio. I’m an infinitely better broadcaster because of him but, more importantly, I’m a better person. He’s a mentor. A friend. After losing my dad in 2014, he became a special source of wisdom that I needed in my life. He's the best, man.”
WKRC-TV devoted the first 12 minutes of its 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts to Lomax’s passing. The station also posted a gallery of 50 photoson its website.
Part of Channel 12’s tribute included video of Lomax being cheered while walking in the 2022 Opening Day parade three weeks after he announced his retirement.
“He was so universally loved in this city,” Gumm told viewers.
“At the Opening Day parade, he would stop every bit along the way and take a selfie or a picture with someone,” Toti told viewers Tuesday.
Lomax always brought his camera to the Opening Day parade, the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League’s annual Nuxy Bash celebrity softball game or other events. He also liked art and automobiles.
When he retired in 2022, Lomax told me he had been earning a paycheck for 55 years. He lied about his age at 15 to get a dishwasher job at a University of Tennessee dormitory cafeteria.
"I was the oldest of seven kids. My dad used to have this saying: 'I take care of your needs. You take care of your wants.' Essentially I've been getting a pay check since I was 15. It will be odd at 70 to not get one," he said.
Lomax quit his TV job in Knoxville shortly after earning degrees in communications and psychology from the University of Tennessee in 1977. He moved to Fort Lauderdale and worked four years as a savings and loan office branch manager until he “got the itch” to get back in the TV business.
“So I just decided to go back to Knoxville and ask my old news director if I could work as a reporter again in 1981," he said. Two year later he was headed to Cincinnati for a few years before moving to a larger market, perhaps Miami or Atlanta, because in the TV business "if you want to move up you have to move away," he told me.
Instead he stayed in Greater Cincinnati. And we’re glad he did.
The Lomax family Tuesday night said that “at this time, we are not planning funeral services; dad’s wishes will take us down other paths. But we’re here celebrating his life with each of you.”
WKRC-TV ended its Tuesday night newscasts by replaying Lomax’s Good Morning Cincinnati retirement goodbye from Friday, April 29, 2022:
“I will say now, as I have said so many times in my thousands of day here, thanks for watching and take care.”
