ST. LOUIS, Mo. – People have been watching Roche Madden’s reports on KTVI for over three decades. The veteran reporter will be retiring in July. He plans on moving east to spend more time with his family.
FOX 2 General Manager Kurt Krueger calls him, “One of the most consistent and dependable reporters to ever work in St. Louis.”
Madden spent five years working in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a reporter and nearly two years in Midland, Texas where he anchored the news before coming to St. Louis in 1985. Since then he has covered an impressive number of stories from St. Louis to St. Petersburg, Russia.
Viewers have seen Madden work every shift. He has been on KTVI newscasts during the morning, daytime, nights, and weekends. You may remember signature line ending each report because of the emphasis on the station instead of the reporter, “Roche Madden… FOX 2 News.”
In 2011 he shared his personal battle with with colorectal cancer on television. He was inspired to report on his recovery by the people he has interviewed over decades. They often agreed to be in a report so they could help, “just one person.” Roche’s reports highlighted the need to speak to a doctor about a colonoscopy.
Want to see a blast from the past? Check out Roche’s report in this newscast from 1986.
More highlights from Roche’s career:
- Flying with Pope John Paul II from Rome to St. Louis. He was the only St. Louis reporter to have this access.
- In 2005 he traveled to New Orleans to cover Hurricane Katrina.
- First Saint Louis TV reporter to travel to Saudi Arabia to cover the buildup before Operation Desert Storm.
- Covered every U.S. President since Jimmy Carter.
- Traveled to Haiti to in 2010 to cover the devastating earthquake.
- Traveled to Dallas to cover the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.
Madden won an Emmy Award for his reporting on flood coverage in the St. Louis area. In 1996 he also won an Emmy for live spot news coverage.
