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Former Wisconsin State Journal columnist and radio personality Betty Cass Willoughby, 76, died Thursday in a Spring Green nursing home. Born in Savannah, Ga., she began writing for The Wisconsin State Jour nal and the Capital Times while at tending Journalism School at the Uni versity of Wisconsin-Madison. She wrote a daily column titled ‘Madison Day by Day” for the paper for 20 years. Mrs. Willoughby also had her own half-hour radio program on WIBA. She received the Theta Sigma Phi Writer’s Cup in 1958 and was named Woman of the Year in 1967 Business and Profes sional Women’s Club of Madison. Her writing career began at the age of 7 when she wrote an account of a minor mishap which had befallen her younger sister. The Hot Springs (Ark.) New Era ran the story on its front page. She worked for the New Era writ ing movie reviews and society articles in her teens. After working for The State Jour nal part-time in college, she worked for two years for the Baltimore Amer ican. Returning to Madison, she be came society editor and police re porter for the Capital Times, then began writing her column for The State Journal in 1928. She turned out more than 6,000 columns in her 20-year career at The State Journal. Betty Cass, as she was known through her daily column, also wrote a weekly column for Manchester's Store, titled ‘Under the Counter.” In 1965 she published a collection of her best newspaper and radio columns under the title ‘How Long Are God’s Shoestrings?”’ She is survived by three sons, Rich ard, Palo Alto, Calif.; Peter, Mazoma nie, a member of the UW Agricultural Journalism faculty; and Stephen, Greenwich, Conn. The funeral will be private. Memo rials may be made to The Wisconsin State Journal Empty Stocking Fund or the Capital Times Kiddie Camp fund.
Newspaper Details
Madison Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Wisconsin, US
Sat, Oct 22, 1977
Page 26
Full Page
Clipped by
Brian N.
USA 23 Aug 2026
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