By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Weiskittel

BRIDGETOWN - There's been a Weiskittel working for The Cincinnati Enquirer for nearly as long as there has been an Enquirer. Raymond A. Weiskittel, 85, a retired third-generation pressroom manager who worked for the Enquirer and the Post, died of heart failure Friday at Vitas Hospice at Deaconess Hospital. He had been living with his son and namesake in Bridgetown for the past several years.

Mr. Weiskittel was regarded as a sort of a pressroom grandfather - the one to go to with questions about the presses - before his retirement in 1981.

"He taught me, and he taught so many guys at the Enquirer," said his son, Raymond. "That's all I hear - what a good teacher he was."

Mr. Weiskittel's grandfather, Henry, began the family's association with the newspaper when he joined the Enquirer in 1870, 30 years after it began. Henry had two brothers, Archibald and Nelson, who each put in more than 40 years as pressmen.

Henry's sons - Harry I., Sidney R. and Earl - followed in their shoes, as did three of Sidney's four sons, including Mr. Weiskittel. Another relative, Ralph Weiskittel, served as the Enquirer's business and home editor, and his brother Bobworked in advertising sales and production.

Raymond's son, Raymond L. Weiskittelof Bridgetown, still works in the pressroom. He said he'll be the last generation to do so.

Mr. Weiskittel began working for the Enquirer along with his relatives after graduating from Western Hills High School in 1937. His career was interrupted when he served in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II as a quartermaster.

He then went to work for the Post, where he met Jean Smith, his future wife. He later returned to the Enquirer, which is where he was working when he retired in 1981.

Mr. Weiskittel served the Boy Scouts when his five sons were young and also coached baseball. In his younger days, he enjoyed bowling.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 1993 and by a son, Roger, in 1996.

In addition to his son Raymond, survivors include: three other sons, Terry, of Westwood, Scott of Fort Mitchell, and Richard of Bridgetown; a sister, Estella Males of Westwood; a brother, Jim Weiskittel of Mack; five grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

The funeral is 11 a.m. today at Neidhard-Minges Funeral Home, 3155 Harrison Ave. in Westwood. Burial is at St. Aloysius Cemetery in Bridgetown.

Memorials: Vitas Hospice, 11500 Northlake Drive, Cincinnati 45249.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com