Mike Stutz, KESQ general manager, to be honored by American Cancer Society
Mike Stutz, general manager of Gulf California Broadcast Company, which owns KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 television stations, is the Celebration of Life Award honoree for American Cancer Society’s 3rd Annual Desert Golf Invitational Golf Tournament, to be played Jan. 26, 2018, at Indian Wells Country Club.
Stutz, a prostate cancer survivor and cancer-free since 2013, knows all too well the impact of cancer on his family. He lost a brother-in-law to melanoma when he was just 42 years old. Cancer struck again when his mother had a single mastectomy in 1991. When the cancer returned, she had another mastectomy in 1996. She has been cancer-free for 21 years and just turned 93 last month.
“Advances in cancer research have made this possible for both of us. That is what drives my passion to volunteer for the American Cancer Society. We will find a cure,” he said.
Stutz enjoys the game of golf and attends major tournaments when he can, having attended the Masters Tournament this past year. As to his own golf game,he says, “Not a lot to say. I am just glad I am still around to play it occasionally!”
Since 2014, he has served on the Leadership Council of the American Cancer Society in the Coachella Valley. He is also on the board of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, the board of Find Food Bank, and the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Coachella Valley. Stutz began his television career as a reporter at WITI-TV in Milwaukee.
He is a graduate of the University of Missouri at St. Louis. He also served as the director of news for News-Press and Gazette Broadcasting (Gulf California Broadcast Company’s parent company), in St. Joseph, Missouri, from September 2006 to August 2014. Prior to that, he held news director posts at KGTV, in San Diego; and WJXT-TV, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Mike was a station operations manager at WTMJ-TV, in Milwaukee, and has held news manager posts at KSDK, in St. Louis and KUSA, in Denver and WITI, in Milwaukee.
The news departments he has run have won numerous awards including some national awards, two Edward R. Murrow Awards for overall excellence (WJXT) and a National Headline Award (KGTV).
He and his wife, Ellen, have three sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons. The couple reside in Palm Desert.
The American Cancer Society offers services and programs throughout the Coachella Valley, including free transportation for cancer patients, free wigs, free lodging and free counseling for cancer patients and their families, as well as funds cancer research.
For more information on the American Cancer Society’s 3rd Annual Desert Golf Invitational Golf Tournament, click here.
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