Elida Witthoeft:
CLASS OF 1975
Arlington High SchoolClass of 1975
Arlington heights, IL
Medill Graduate School of JournalismClass of 1980
Evanston, IL
Miner Junior High SchoolClass of 1971
Arlington heights, IL
Thomas Junior High SchoolClass of 1971
Arlington heights, IL
Ridge Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Arlington heights, IL
Elida's Story
Life
Everybody in high school knew I wanted to be a journalist and 44 years later I'm still at it, though I switched from news to sports in 1989 and from newspapers to TV in 1998, when I came to ESPN. Moving around a lot in my career has made me appreciate what a "normal" childhood I had in Arlington Heights and how much I miss the Midwest!
School
I had a great time in high school and can hardly believe the school no longer exists. One of the great ironies of life is that I helped cover the closing of Arlington as an education reporter for the Daily Herald. That was a tough assignment.
Workplace
I got laid off by ESPN in 2021 and decided to retire after nearly 23 years at the network. My last job was lead coordinating editor on ESPN's universal news desk. We gathered and vetted the news presented on all of ESPN's platforms including television, digital and radio. I previously worked as senior coordinating producer in charge of the ESPNEWS network; news editor/nights for ESPN; coordinating producer of SportsCenter (for which I've won three national Emmys); the monthly "Outside the Lines" and executive editor at ESPN.com. I jumped from newspaper work in 1998 to join ESPN as a news edi...Expand for more
tor. I loved working for newspapers -- I was at the Daily Herald, the Milwaukee Journal, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Chicago Tribune, but working for ESPN was pretty cool, too.
I love to travel though work prevented me from doing as much as I’d hoped, I did visit East Africa, Belgium and most of the major cities in the United States and Hawaii four times. I’ve also been lucky to attend most of the world’s major sporting events except the Olympics. ESPN kept me in the office as their Olympics editor and producer.
Chicago will always be home in my heart, but I discovered on my adventures that I really love the Pacific Northwest and St. Helena, Calif., too.
After living all over the upper Midwest, I lived in Connecticut for 24 years, making me an honorary New Englander. In 2022 I moved to Chandler, AZ, where I live with my Lab, Chevy. I also take care of my 94-year-old mom, who is in assisted living nearby. When I first retired I taught sports writing part-time at Arizona State. Now I swim, do volunteer and political work, paint and occasionally pick up freelance editing projects.
I miss the Midwest. I do not miss chipping ice out of my gutters of falling on the driveway!
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Reunions
Photos
