Susan White-Bowden

Susan White-Bowden, a popular Baltimore television reporter who had been a mainstay of WMAR-TV during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, died Friday at her Finksburg home from complications from a fall. She was 79.

A former model, Ms. White-Bowden spent more than two decades at WMAR where she was a reporter, anchor, news writer and producer.

"I'd call Susan a pioneer. She was the first female TV reporter in Baltimore and blazed the trail for a lot of women behind her," said Charles Horich, who had been vice president of news and programming at WMAR, from 1976 to 1982.

"People liked Susan, she could cover hard news or talk to ordinary people who did extraordinary things," Mr. Horich said. "She did a feature, 'Open Road,' where she traveled throughout Maryland listening to ordinary people tell their stories and she did them extremely well."

Richard Sher, former WJZ-TV personality, where he worked for 33 years before retiring in 2008, and is currently the moderator of "Square Off" on Channel 2, is a longtime close friend of Ms. White-Bowden.

"Susan was a broadcasting pioneer, always moving ahead, proving that television was no longer for men," Mr. Sher said.

The former Susan Scheid who was born in Baltimore and raised in Pikesville, was the daughter of Dr. Howard Scheid,a dentist, and his wife, Betty Scheid, a Goucher College professor.

She was a 1957 graduate of Milford Mill High School and graduated in 1963 from Walter's Academy, a Howard Street modeling school.

By the mid 1960s, Ms. White-Bowden was appearing in TV commercials that were produced in Baltimore, and later became a regular on the old Jack Wells morning show on Channel 11 modeling dresses.

She appeared in "commercials for bread, beer, oleomargarine, hair dryers, a supermarket chain and the Internal Revenue Service," wrote Baltimore Sun TV critic Bill Hyder in a 1965 Baltimore Sun article.

In a 1968 Sun interview, Ms. White-Bowden said she broke into TV news via the "back door."

She did features first for WBAL, and after doing several stories for WMAR, she was told by station executives she "showed promise," she said.

"I've really had to learn the business from scratch. Both Dave Stickle (WMAR news director) and George Rogers (assistant news director) have had to give me 'on the job training.' They have been a tremendous help," she explained.

It wasn't long before the ebullient blonde who favored mini-dresses found a devoted and loyal audience of viewers who was been promoted with ads in The Sun proclaiming, "Susan White … Girl on the GO."

During her career she was the recipient of many awards for her work from the Associated Press, United Press International and the Society for Professional Journalism.

After having lost her first husband and son to suicide, Ms. White-Bowden wrote "Everything To Live For," and became a nationally known speaker on youth suicide prevention, surviving loss, self-esteem and media relations.

She has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Phil Donahue Show," "Good Morning America," and "Regis and Kathie Lee," and many other nationally broadcast TV shows. She had testified before Congress and the Maryland General Assembly on youth suicide prevention and gun abuse.

Ms. White-Bowden, who was the author of several other books, also taught writing at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and Towson University.

She was married in 1979 to Jack Bowden, a WMAR colleague and co-anchor, who died in 2016.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 2 pm at St. John's Western Run Parish, 3738 Butler Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136.