MILWAUKEE — Carole Meekins' decision to retire after 32 years has many of us wondering how the void will be filled at TMJ4. The woman whom viewers saw on air night after night was no different than what many of us experienced in the newsroom and hallways of TMJ4.
"I don't know what this place is going to be like without her. She is such an integral part of TMJ4," Anchor Steve Chamraz said.
Steve Chamraz was a 19-year-old intern when he first met Carole at TMJ4. Yet over the last few years, he has been by her side on the anchor desk.
"Her wisdom is going to be missed. She was great for advice when I was a kid coming up and she's still good for advice today."
That sound advice is something our station manager Greg Schraufnagel also holds dear.
"I remember when I was just starting out with Carol and writing marketing copy for her, she was really encouraging and taught me a lot about writing for TV. And she would always tell me writing for television is a lot like music, in that you're writing for the ear as well as for the page," said station manager, Gregg Schraufnegal.
But what you may not know, is Carole had a humor not everyone got but it was always with good intentions.
"Some people might be surprised to know that Carol, actually at one point, had a doormat at her cubicle that said go away," recalls, ex-producer Rob Lowry. "Which of course was joking because Carole would talk to just about anybody."
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.... TMJ4 Reporter Jenna Rae nailed it this Halloween and in true Carole fashion.
"She goes, oh my god, you look better than me," said Jenna Rae.
Carole embodies the title of her weekly show - Positively Milwaukee. Anchor Susan Kim remembers the words she told her years ago when she was starting out as a reporter at the station.
"She told me once that she never wanted people to feel unwelcome around her. She wanted people always to feel that was really important to her. I took that advice from her. It wasn't advice to me, but I took that just as something to remember, you're never too busy to be kind."
It is that grace and genuine spirit that many will miss. Carole's tenacity and charm over the years have inspired and empowered many women in the building.
"She has taught me a lot about how to ask for what I want and to stand up for what I want and how to be myself and be unabashedly myself," Specials Producer, Katlin Connin.
Carole has been a steady voice viewers love. As she closes this chapter to start writing her next ... We all here agree - we are all better to have had Carole Meekins in our lives.
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