Remembering Ricki Wertz

Many remember her bubbly personality and on-air presence as host of “Ricki and Copper” and “Junior High Quiz” at WTAE. The legendary Ricki Wertz died Wednesday in Chicago after a few days in hospice care. The cause of death is not known.

Wertz’s first TV job was at the ill-fated WENS-TV (16) in 1953 as a sidekick on a music and dance program. There she met Tom Bordenkircher who would become her husband the next year. Bordenkircher died in February 2020.

Bordenkircher helped sign WTAE-TV on in 1958 and together with Wertz, they created the aforementioned programs for which she is long-remembered as host. She had asked for a dog as a wedding present in lieu of jewelry and that ended up being Copper who is described as a Whippet-Golden Retriever mix. A friend of the couple told the Tribune-Review that even 30 years after the show ended and the canine friend had long passed, people would still ask how Copper was doing. Responding quickly and with a smile, Wertz would reply, “Dead.”

After here years at WTAE, Wertz moved on to WQED in 1982 and worked there until 1999 as director of outreach and national director of Public Television Outreach Alliance. She also oversaw some on-air projects.

Wertz and Bordenkircher moved to Chicago a few years ago to be closer to their children. She was 86 at the time of her death.