Pittsburgh Broadcasting Pioneer Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA —Ricki Wertz, whose rose to fame in the earliest days of Pittsburgh television and was a staple on local airwaves for decades, died Wednesday at her home in Chicago, WTAE-TV announced. She was 86.

Ms. Wertz and her dog hosted the "The Ricky & Copper Show," a children's program, on WTAE for a decade beginning in 1959. She perhaps is best known for hosting the popular "Junior High Quiz" from 1965 until 1982.

She then moved to WQED-TV and created "The Chemical People," a national public television series dealing with addiction.

Funeral arrangements for Mrs. Wertz, whose real name was Ruth Bordenkircher, were unavailable Thursday morning.

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