Bob Hower, the anchor of Tulsa’s first newscast, died Saturday morning. He was 87.

Hower was at the anchor desk when KOTV became Tulsa’s first television station in 1949. He left the station for the Air Force at the beginning of the Korean War, later returning to Tulsa as an anchor at KTUL, where he finished out his 35-year career in broadcasting.

In 1980, Hower launched KTUL’s Waiting Child program, a weekly segment that features children in permanent custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services looking for adoptive homes. The segment is still featured on KTUL and has led to the adoption of thousands of children, according to the station.