MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – WSFA 12 News is mourning the loss of our news director, longtime co-worker, and friend, Desmond Wingard, who died on Oct. 30 following a battle with cancer.
Des, as we called him, was young, just 46-years-old. But he spent more than half of his life in the place he loved, with the people he loved, covering the community he loved.
He first walked through the doors at 12 East Delano Avenue in 1999 as a fresh-faced, but very determined young 19-year-old junior studying at Troy University. He never left.
Des worked tirelessly for more than a decade as our assistant news director, putting his mark on thousands of broadcasts before being promoted to news director in 2022. It was a role he’d dreamed of his entire life, and one he relished.
Des was homegrown, raised up in Butler, Covington, and Lowndes counties, where he developed his work ethic spending summer days in the family tomato patch with his sister…