Creator of 'Geech' comic, a native of Wichita, dies
Mother
Creator of 'Geech' comic, a native of Wichita, dies
Jerry Bittle studied art at Wichita State and began his career as an
editorial cartoonist at The Eagle-Beacon.
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
Wichita native Jerry Bittle, whose "Geech" comic strip appears in
newspapers across the country, died during a vacation in Central America,
family friends said Monday.
Vickie Pickering, who has known the Bittle family for years, said the
cartoonist died of what seemed to be a heart attack while on a scuba-diving
vacation in Honduras.
She said Bittle, 53, is survived by three daughters and a wife who
live in the Dallas area. His parents, Bill and Virginia Bittle, live in
Wichita.
Arrangements were being made to return the body to the United States,
Pickering said.
Bittle's comic strip, which is set in the small town of Grimace,
Texas, is distributed by United Feature Syndicate to more than 175
newspapers worldwide.
Bittle has said in interviews that some of the characters in his strip
are based on impressions of people he knew while growing up in Wichita. One
of the characters, Artie, has a WSU sweatshirt that Bittle said referred to
his alma mater, Wichita State University.
Bittle, a Southeast High School graduate, had planned to be an
architect when he enrolled at WSU, but he gravitated toward the field of
art. He was offered a job as a staff artist with The Wichita Eagle-Beacon
while still in college.
After four years at the newspaper, Bittle went to Albuquerque in 1975
to work as an editorial cartoonist. Although his work drew national acclaim,
he later moved to Dallas to work as a freelance artist. It was there that
the Geech comic strip was conceived.
