1974 NPC President Kenneth Scheibel, decorated WWII vet, dies

1974 National Press Club President Kenneth Scheibel, a decorated World War II veteran whose journalism career dated to the Roosevelt administration, died May 6 at the Envoy Nursing Home in Alexandria. He was 92.

Mr. Scheibel, born in Campbell, Nebraska on May 17, 1920, to G. Alfred and Rachel K. Scheibel, graduated high school in 1937 and worked as a newspaper reporter before World War II, his son, Ken Scheibel, Jr. said.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1940 to 1946, rising from private to captain, his son said. His first assignment was as a cryptographer in London. His next and longest role was as a tank commander in the 755 tank battalion, a highly decorated tank unit. Scheibel was awarded the Bronze Star, his son said.

Following the war, Mr. Scheibel attended University of Virginia, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1947 and a master’s degree in economics in 1949, his son said. His first job out of college was as an economics reporter for the Wall Street Journal from 1950 to 1953. He worked at Gannett for the next decade, his son said. Several other newspaper posts followed at the Donrey Media Group, his own news bureau Washington Bureau News, FDC Reports and Washington Times.

His son recalls spending a few days on the job with him.

“It was a lot of legwork. We would get in a cab, we’d ride up to the Supreme Court and he’d walk into a Supreme Court justice’s office without an appointment,” Ken Scheibel Jr. said.

He also recalls seeing his father asking a question of President John F. Kennedy during a televised press conference. His father attended a Christmas Party thrown by the Roosevelts and danced with Eleanor Roosevelt, his son said.

“That was just everyday life for him and a lot of folks in the White House Press Corps,” Scheibel said.

Mr. Scheibel, a member of the White House Correspondents Association, held various offices at the National Press Club from 1969 until he became president in 1974. On Jan. 16, 1975, President Gerald Ford’s diary notes that Mr. Scheibel and 1975 National Press Club President William W. Broom met with him for five minutes in the Oval Office and presented him with a National Press Club membership card designating him as an Associate Member of the National Press Club.

Scheibel recalls attending a National Press Club luncheon where his father introduced then Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter.

“He introduced Carter to the nation as our next president,” Scheibel said.

Following his journalism career, Mr. Scheibel worked for the State Department. In 1985, he served as an economic advisor for the State Department’s mission in Saudi Arabia, his son said.

In 1955, he married Helen Scheibel, his son said. The couple divorced in 1977.

Mr. Scheibel is survived by his son, a daughter Sally Scheibel, and two foster sons, Victor and William Schmitt. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Arrangements will be announced at a later date.