The dean of West Michigan sportscasters, Warren Reynolds was not only a respected journalist, but a dedicated family man and indefatigable volunteer.
He spent 35 of his more than 43 years broadcasting with one station – WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids.
The GRSHOF’s Lifetime Achievement Award was presented first to him and his family and named in his honor in 2000, the same year he died of cancer at age 63.
He was cited by many after his passing for his integrity, professionalism and unfailing courtesy that represented the best that broadcasting had to offer.
Reynolds started his career covering football for a local radio station while attending Hillsdale College, then lived in Port Huron and covered local sports. He took the sports director job at WOOD-TV in 1964, and throughout his career was involved in multiple charitable causes, including the Children’s Miracle Network of Champions, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the American Cancer Society and the Special Olympics.
His father Bob, worked in the radio broadcasting industry, and was a celebrated sports director at WJR in Detroit and an announcer of football games for Michigan State University from 1961-82, and the Detroit Lions from 1952-82. Warren worked alongside him in the booth several times.
Locally, Reynolds and fellow Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame member and bowling standout Marion Ladewig teamed up for 17 years on a popular local bowling show.
Reynolds, in addition to being in the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the March of Dimes West Michigan, and established the Warren Reynolds Grand Valley State University endowed scholarship to help others follow in his footsteps.