Eric Jylha

Eric Jylha died on Sunday 4 October 2026, aged 76. His obituary was posted by Winter Oak Funeral Home in Winter Garden, Florida. WNEM-TV5 announced his death on 6 October with a tribute calling him a longtime friend, weather forecaster, reporter and local historian, and MLive reported it the same day, noting tributes from local leaders and former colleagues.

No cause of death was made public. He was survived by his son Matti, his daughter-in-law Jaime and his grandchildren Evan and Madeline. According to his obituary, no memorial services had been scheduled when his death was reported; the funeral home invited family and friends to share memories online instead.

Eric Allyn Jylha was born on 28 December 1949 in Bad Axe, in Michigan's Thumb. He grew up with close ties to Bay City and graduated from Bay City Central High School with the Class of 1968.

His broadcasting life began early: according to WNEM-TV5, he was already working in radio by 1967, while still in school. He went on to study journalism and broadcasting at Delta College and Michigan State University. Delta College stayed part of his life for decades, through appearances on its radio station, its pledge drives and its television trivia programme.

Jylha spent his first years as a professional broadcaster in Mid-Michigan radio, working at stations including WBCM, WXOX, WGER and WSGW. At WXOX in Bay City he was a radio personality and news reporter and eventually became news director. In January 1982 he moved to WSGW in Saginaw, where he was an on-air news presenter and morning show host.

In 1986 he joined WNEM-TV5 in Saginaw as a television reporter. By the late 1980s and early 1990s he had become a weekend news anchor, and in 1992 he moved from the anchor desk to weather, becoming one of the station's regular weekend weathercasters. He remained with WNEM when it changed its network affiliation from NBC to CBS in 1995, and he also contributed reports, interviews and features and appeared on weekend broadcasts that WNEM produced for FOX 66.

He gave up regular weekend weather duties in 2007 but kept working for TV5 on a part-time and fill-in basis, handling occasional weather, reporting and other assignments. He retired in March 2014, after about 28 years with the station and a broadcasting career that spanned nearly five decades.

Jylha was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Bay City, where he served as president and as the club's historian. He had a deep interest in local history, photography and storytelling, and he shared the history of the region through lectures and community events. He also served on the board of the Historic Masonic Temple of Bay City.

For years he was a sought-after master of ceremonies at events across the Bay City area. The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce recognised that work with its President's Award in 2012, and in 2014 it inducted him into its Business Hall of Fame.

He had a son, Matti Jylha, who is married to Jaime Jylha, and two grandchildren, Evan and Madeline.

Jylha is remembered in Mid-Michigan as one of the steady weekend faces of WNEM-TV5 through the 1990s and 2000s, and as someone who carried his love of the region well beyond the newsroom. WNEM said his decades on television and his commitment to the communities he served made him a trusted and memorable presence. In Bay City in particular he is remembered as a keeper of local history, through his work as Rotary historian, his lectures and his service to the Historic Masonic Temple.