Dave Chaney, longtime photojournalist at WCCO, retires after 46 years

MINNEAPOLIS — After four and a half decades, WCCO is saying goodbye and good luck to a longtime photojournalist.

Dave Chaney's career has taken him around the world, though some of his best stories happened here, in Minnesota.

"When you are young, you don't realize how big this job is until you do it for a while," Chaney reflected.

He was hired on March 8, 1978 as a sound guy for WCCO. The young man from Shell Lake, Wisconsin was promoted to photographer just eight months later.

In his career since, he's been in the room with every president since Ronald Reagan. He's been to political conventions and chased hurricanes.

During the 1992 Hurricane Andrew, Chaney recalled meeting a little boy who had been trapped underneath a house.

"We mentioned he was a Twins fan and they sent us a bunch of Twins stuff overnight," he said.

The job also took Chaney and his camera around the world.

"I have traveled to Bosnia, Africa, Saudi Arabia. But some of my favorite stories are the farm stories," he said. "I love being out with the people."

He covered the first ever Farm Aid event with Willie Nelson as the headliner, and he met his Hollywood and TV heroes like Clint Eastwood and Red Fox. The past 46 years have come with some perks — especially when he got to ride in the Channel 4 helicopter.

"I always said my kids' mother, the only reason she went with me is because I got her a ride in the helicopter. That was a playboy move, you know?" he said.

With wit and humor, Chaney did it all while helping to raise his three daughters. It was career that gave him a front row seat to history, yet he considers his greatest accomplishment being a dad.

"My youngest daughter is going into this field. I'm proud as I can be, but she grew up in this station," he said.

So, he'll retire as a caretaker of Minnesota history, and a caretaker of WCCO. In all his time, he claims to have never missed a deadline at WCCO.

"When you've been in this business as long as I have a lot of your friends have left and moved on, but then we get new people who are just as good and they love the job . .  and that's what I love about WCCO," Chaney said. "The stories keep changing, but it's good people. And that's WCCO, it's the people."

Chaney says he hopes to travel and spend more time with his family in retirement.