Ricki Wertz with Copper
Another pioneer in the history of Pittsburgh television left us earlier this week when Ricki Wertz died at the age of 86.
What Pittsburgh area Baby Boomer does not have memories of her children's show, "Ricki and Copper" from the 1950's and '60's? No, I was never one of those kids who appeared on her show on my birthday, but I watched it quite a bit, and even at a young age, I wondered how Ricki Wertz was always able to endure yet another retelling of the "Why did the guy throw the butter out the window?" joke and act like she had never heard it before. From "Ricki and Copper" she went on to host WTAE's "Junior High School Quiz" for twelve years (no, I was never on THAT one either), before leaving that show and moving into public television where a show that she produced, "The Chemical People", was a groundbreaking look into drug abuse and chemical dependency.
In reading her obituaries, I got a kick in seeing that in her retirement, she would meet friends for lunch at Eat 'n Park, and that she would invariably be approached by people who were fans of hers from way back when. Thirty and forty years after the show went off the air, people would still ask her "How's Copper?" to which she would reply "Dead!"
In recent years, Wertz and her husband of 66 years, Tom Bordenkircher (the puppy Copper was his wedding gift to her) moved to the Chicago area to live near their children. He died in 2020. By all accounts, she was as sweet and charming a person in real life as she always came across on the air.
RIP Ricki Wertz.
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