ELK HORN, Iowa (AP) — Burt Wittrup, a former chief of bureau for The Associated Press in New Mexico, has died in his home state of Iowa, where he returned in 2008. His wife, Carolyn, says he died of congestive heart failure on March 1st at a hospital in Harlan. He was 77. The couple returned to Elk Horn, where Wittrup was born in 1934.

Wittrup served in the Navy and attended the University of New Mexico. He joined the AP in New Mexico, becoming news editor and bureau chief. He left the AP after 19 years. He worked for the Albuquerque Tribune, taught journalism at the University of New Mexico and joined the El Paso Times before retiring in 1994. Funeral services are at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Ohde Funeral Home in Kimballton.