Dennis West, longtime editor and publisher of The Beacon in Williams Bay, died Wednesday, Jan. 28, at his Williams Bay home. He was 78.
Born Aug. 31, 1943, in Rockford, Ill., he graduated in 1961 from Rockford West High School. In about 1964, he married Kathi Bovi, and together they had two sons — Paul and Mark — and two grandsons, Miles and Ethan.
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West spent the first two decades of his career at WIFR-TV in Rockford, working his way up from sales to general manager and eventually president. After leaving WIFR, he attended UW-Madison and earned his journalism degree in 1992.
Moving to the Lake Geneva area after graduating, West started his newspaper career with The (Williams) Bay Times. He later purchased The Beacon, of which he served as editor and publisher for many years.
West sold The Beacon in October 2017 to Southern Lakes Newspapers. He continued on as editor until retiring in February 2020.
