Obituary - Joe Wyatt Kizzia, 84

By Barbara Rybolt

August 29, 2008, 4:28PM

Courtesy of the Kizzia familyJoe Wyatt Kizzia

Joe Wyatt Kizzia, 84, a former long-time resident of Summit, died at home on Saturday,
Aug. 23, 2008, after a long illness. A memorial service will be held at Central
Presbyterian Church in Summit on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 11 a.m. Mr. Kizzia worked for
most of his career as a business journalist in Manhattan, where he was well-served in the
company of executives and bankers by a droll storytelling vernacular developed during
his boyhood in rural Arkansas. His career with Simmons Boardman Publishing Co. began
in 1950 in Washington, D.C., moving to Chicago and to New York in 1957. He served
decade-long terms as executive editor of Railway Age and
American Builder magazines, and as managing editor of Banking
Magazine. From 1980 to 1992, he was editor of Bank Director's
Briefing, which chronicled the complex changes in baking
regulations for non-banking professionals. For short periods he
also edited a breezy newsletter, "Metrolines," for Northeast
Corridor rail travelers, and managed publicity for the 1969
Centennial of the Golden Spike and the first transcontinental
railroad.

Mr. Kizzia was born on Sept. 7, 1923, in Nashville, Ark., the fifth
generation of the Kizzia family in that region. He grew up on tenant farms, developing a
lifelong aversion to fresh peaches after many stifling hours of labor in orchard packing
sheds. He served with the Army's 744th Railway Operating Battalion in the Northern
France, Ardennes and Rhineland campaigns in World War 11. After the war, he attended
the University of Arkansas and Northwestern University, graduating from Northwestern
in 1949 with a B.S. in journalism. His first job was with the Nashville News in Arkansas.
After moving to Summit in 1957, Mr. Kizzia was active at Central Presbyterian Church
as a deacon and in his sons' Boy Scout troop. He had a particular interest in the American
language and in history, especially of the American Civil War. After retirement, he
moved to Chatham in 2000.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Peggy (Toncray) Kizzia; and by his three children,
Tom Kizzia of Homer, Alaska, Michael Kizzia and his wife, Leslie Campesi Kizzia of
Mooresville, N.C., and Carol Kizzia Gross and her husband, William Gross, of
Manhasset, N.Y. He also leaves eight grandchildren.
Memorial donations in honor of Mr. Kizzia may be made to Central Presbyterian Church,
Worship & Music Commissions, 70 Maple St., Summit 07901, or to The Summit
Playhouse, 10 New England Ave., Summit 07901.