36 thoughts on “FORMER DETROIT RADIO PERSONALITIES – DECEASED”
Regarding the very last name listed, Don Zee.I believe he was also on CKLW overnights at least in ’66 & ’67 before he went to Texas where he passed from a “cleaning his gun” incident. I called him from mid Pennsylvania, (company card of course, 🙂 ) to comment on an upcoming football game, listened to CK the Big 8, sitting in front of Independence Hall! The following week I listened to him until I ran out of signal just this side of Des Moines, Iowa. 🙂
Hi Lindsay,
My name is Bob Kimball and I worked for your dad at Mutual Radio in the mid 1970s. I hadn’t had any contact with him or your mom (I remember her fondly when they lived in Reston, Va.). My belated condolences after reading here that your dad died. Please let me know if there’s any charity or group I can donate to in your his name. He was the best boss in my nearly 40-year media career. (I buried the lead).
BK
Thank you for your kind words about Dale. He often spoke of you when we were reminiscing about earlier days. Dale was ill for a long time, and in hospice care for the final two years of his life. I was his care giver 24/7, but with wonderful help from a group of Hospice nurses that I will remember fondly for the rest of my life. I thought of you at his passing but he wasn’t super organized with addresses, etc. so I couldn’t let you know. He was himself right up until the end, still cracking jokes and listening to jazz.
I remember Detroit radio back into the 1940s and for some reason the name of Carl Zetterberg came to mind. I believe he was a newscaster on one of the Detroit radio stations in the 1940s and 1950s, maybe even into the 1960s. I remember hearing him bring evening news into our home in Plymouth. Does anyone else remember Carl Zetterberg, and I don’t mean the Red Wing player?
Gentlemen: Those of us who were teenagers in early 1950’S will remember Leroy G. White from WJLB “Detroit’s Home Station” (AM 1400) Name of his show “Rockin’ With Leroy.” He played latest R&B music and rocked the town. My schoolmate and I often remember rushing home to his upstairs console radio to hear our favorite DJ. We attended Eastern High School (Mack & E. Grand Blvd.) Thanks for considering posting this overlooked top R&B DJ. Respectfully, David Olsen
Don Zee Was indeed The Midnight DJ At CKLW ,
Then For A Short Time–Morning Man–Till The Drake Format Arrived.
Theme Song? Yes– Tarantula By the Tarantulas
He Consistently Used An EVIL LAUGH Bumper–Which was the Harold Perry “Great Gildersleve” Laugh.
He Was Also An Overnight DJ For WXYZ, Prior To the CKLW Stint
Real Name–Don Zemenski
My husband remembers a disc jockey named Bob Beasley during the late 60’s Or early 70’s on WWJ when it was music. He used to golf with him at West Shore in Grosse Ile. Is he still around?
Thank you,
Marie and Ed
If memory serves, Bob Beasley and I were fired the same day at WEXL by way of a memo at the end of our shifts in the commercial live copy note book. Cannot remember the year. But it was just before he started at WWJ.
Add to your list of deceased Tom George of WJBK. Tom hosted various shifts at the station with his last being mornings at the station, leaving in late 1960 or early 61. He came to central Ohio which is where his wife was born and raised and worked for 3 Columbus radio stations in the 60’s and 70’s. His last on air work was for a small radio station in Marysville, Oh. He died in a traffic accident on his way to work in 88.
I wouldn’t have become a Detroit Tigers fan (since 1966!) if it wouldn’t have been for Dave Diles! As TV voice for over 30 years of my beloved Tigers he was a Detroit sports icon! (He WAS on Monday Night Football from 1970-1981 but he NOT HOWARD COSELL broke the news of John Lennon’s assassaination in 1980! (He told me that in 1989.) Also he brought Nelson Burton Jr. and Cathy Rigby to ABC and worked with them until CBS snagged him in 1982 where he stayed until 1989. Honored by the PBA NBA and NFL Hall Of Fame he deserves to be an immortal sportscaster!
Detroit radio was special, as were the personalities. I remember a program called “Squeaky & Jitters”? The ” Lone Ranger”, all local creations that had me glued to the receiver. The early 40’s were magic.
I would be very curious if anyone knows anything about my grandfather, Lawrence “Larry” Kelley. He had a show on Detroit’s WXYZ doing human interest stories during the 1940s and also did some voice acting work on radio in the 1950s. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of his show or any others that he worked on. He passed away long before I was born but has always lived as a legend in my mind and heart.
My brother, Jim Heddle, who frequently went by “Big Jim Edwards” on air, worked at various radio stations in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Flint, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Tucson, Arizona, and quite possibly I have left some out since I did not have his photographic memory re: Oldies rock &roll among other topics. He was also the voice of the University of Michigan hockey team briefly in the 1980s. He passed away in early 2018.
He loved reminiscing about many of the people you have listed on this site. Thankyou!
Hi Donna, I am so sadden to learn, today after reading your comments here, in 2022, that Jim Heddle had passed away in 2018! Totally unbeknownst to us here, I am without words. He was a big fan of Detroit radio and of this site as well, and he contributed much here and I often wondered, from time to time, why we have not heard from Jim for quite some time now. I just posted one of his WXYZ October 10, 1966 Detroit Sound Survey charts he kindly provided to us in 2013. Again, Donna, I am so sorry to hear this so late since his passing and I pray you and your family are doing well in 2022. https://mcrfb.com/?p=108973 WXYZ RADIO 1270! THE DETROIT SOUND SURVEY: OCTOBER 10, 1966
I spent 17 years in Detroit Radio / TV. Let me add some information to your list of deceased Radio / TV people who were my co-workers:
J.P. MCarthy – Died 16 August 1995 of a rare form of blood disease. Age 62.
Oscar Frenette – Hired me at WPON in Pontiac, then was my co-worker at WJR News. Died 9 December 1997. Age 71. Emphysema.
Rita Bell – hostess of “Prize Movie” Channel 7 in Detroit. Died here in San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) of Colon cancer on 9 December 2003. Age 78.
Lowell Newton – WXYZ-TV “street reporter” then Editorial Director at the station. Was vacationing in Rome in 1981 when an assassin shot at Pope John Paul II. Newton was first to report from the scene.
Later called to Rome to testify at the trial of the assassin. Died 8 February 2000. Age 87 (?) following heart surgery.
Dave Diles – Died at his Ohio farm from a stroke on 27 December 2009 (not the 2005 date listed). Age 78
Jim Herrington – WXYZ-TV “street reporter”. Died in Sarasota, Florida on 4 January 2013. Age 84.
Jennifer Moore – WJR then WDIV Newscaster. Died 11 July 2014 of cancer. Age 64,
Bill Bonds – WXYZ-TV News anchor. Died 13 December 2014. Age 82.
Don Haney – WXYZ-TV – He helped break the “color barrier” in Detroit TV in the 1960’s. Died in Little Rock, Arkansas on 24 March 2015. Age 80.
2016 was a bad year for WJR alumni. I lost some good friends:
Paul Carey – WJR Sports and Tigers play-by-play announcer with Ernie Harwell. 35 years @ WJR. Died 12 April 2016. Age 88.
Rod Hansen – WJR Award-winning Newscaster. 35 years at the station. Died on the 4th of July 2016. Age 75.
Gene Healy – WJR Newscaster for 27 years died 16 September 2016. Age 85.
Bob Pisor – Detroit News reporter, Coleman Young Press Secretary and WDIV Newscaster for 11 years – Died 7 July 2017 of cancer at his Northern Michigan farm. Age 77.
Frank Benesh – First broadcaster to appear on WJRT Flint when it went on the air. Later WXYZ-TV News Director (and my boss) during the Bill Bonds, Barney Morris, Solon Gray and Ken Thomas eras. Died 7 December 2017. Age 92.
Mike Whorf – WJR Award winning Broadcaster. Died 10 November 2020. Age 88.
Tommy Shannon – Well known and popular CKLW & WXYZ Radio “jock”. Died in Salinas, California 27 May 2021. Age 82.
Frank Beckmann – WJR Newsman, then Sports for 30+ years.. Voice of U. of M. & Detroit Lions football. Died 11 February 2022. Age 72.
I am thoroughly enjoying your look at the “old days” of Detroit Radio / TV. I will look to see if I have any old “radio checks” around.
Thanks.
My parents were great friends with Edgar Guest’s family…both Sr. and Jr….Edgar Jr. did a hilarious comedy tale about my father coming home from a business trip late one night to find the new “watchdog” at the front door vestibule…a collie that my dad had to carry up the stairs because the dog couldn’t handle stairs…we all gathered around the radio and listened to WJR morning show as Edgar Guest Jr. lampooned my dad…it was hilarious.
I knew many of the folks in Detroit media…Joe McCarthy, Dick Purtan, Bill Bonds, Van Patrick, Larry Adderly, Marilyn Turner & John…and Paul W. Smith later in mid 2000’s…too many to mention each name. I can remember as a youngster buying a 6 transistor radio and listening to Dick Biondi on WLS overnight while in my bed in Detroit…thought that was amazing…I still listen to radio overnight with earbuds and a phone online…but now it’s podcasts until morning when I can tune in to favorite stations until the coffee goes on.
I performed in bands during the ’60’s & ’70’s…played many of the local hotspots like Cliff Bell’s (The Winery for a while), Steering Wheel, Motor Bar at Book Cadillac, Ponchartrain gigs on Thursday Jazz nights, Coral Gables, Diamond Lil’s, Mitch Housey’s & Beau Jack’s (near DRC), Roman Gate…so lots of the media folks would be good customers. Joe McCarthy introduced me to dozens of Motown movers & shakers when I worked at The Steering Wheel…Joe knew everyone in town
A couple of names that you can unfortunately add to this list include John O’Leary of WCSX, WWWW (W4 Rock), and WABX, Joe Wade Formicola of WWWW (W4 Country) and WYCD, Linda Lee of WYCD, and Sharon Foster-Santoni of WWWW (W4 Country).
Mike Miller worked at WXYZ in the late 1960s. I met him when he was a talk host on WJNO in West Palm Beach, in 1988 when I was a talk-show director and producer. Mike is a very nice gentleman and in fact totally by strange coincidence, I moved from West Palm Beach to Jacksonville in the 1990s and discovered he lives only a few homes away from me!
Yes we talk and we chat and he still is a very nice man.
LeRoy G White. Yeah I know he was a drunk, and fell backwards to his death back in the early 70’s from a 2nd story flat, over a market apartment building, in the back. Ruled an accident, but still he worked in Radio, along with Soupy Sales.
Regarding the very last name listed, Don Zee.I believe he was also on CKLW overnights at least in ’66 & ’67 before he went to Texas where he passed from a “cleaning his gun” incident. I called him from mid Pennsylvania, (company card of course, 🙂 ) to comment on an upcoming football game, listened to CK the Big 8, sitting in front of Independence Hall! The following week I listened to him until I ran out of signal just this side of Des Moines, Iowa. 🙂
Where is John E. Smooth Edwards? He did Sunday night segway on Mix 92.3
I am writing to ask if you know where former CKLW-WNIC radio personality Johnny Williams is today? Thank you, Chuck
Chuck, Johnny Williams is alive and doing well. You can find him on Facebook today.
Unfortunately Johnny Williams passed away about 5 years ago.
What ever happened to Dale Conquest I would like to send him an e-mail. Thank You.
Hi Patty, Dale Conquest was my father. Sadly, he passed away in April of 2022.
Hi Lindsay,
My name is Bob Kimball and I worked for your dad at Mutual Radio in the mid 1970s. I hadn’t had any contact with him or your mom (I remember her fondly when they lived in Reston, Va.). My belated condolences after reading here that your dad died. Please let me know if there’s any charity or group I can donate to in your his name. He was the best boss in my nearly 40-year media career. (I buried the lead).
BK
Hi Bob,
Thank you for your kind words about Dale. He often spoke of you when we were reminiscing about earlier days. Dale was ill for a long time, and in hospice care for the final two years of his life. I was his care giver 24/7, but with wonderful help from a group of Hospice nurses that I will remember fondly for the rest of my life. I thought of you at his passing but he wasn’t super organized with addresses, etc. so I couldn’t let you know. He was himself right up until the end, still cracking jokes and listening to jazz.
I remember Detroit radio back into the 1940s and for some reason the name of Carl Zetterberg came to mind. I believe he was a newscaster on one of the Detroit radio stations in the 1940s and 1950s, maybe even into the 1960s. I remember hearing him bring evening news into our home in Plymouth. Does anyone else remember Carl Zetterberg, and I don’t mean the Red Wing player?
Carl “Cederberg”
Wondering if Tom Dean is still around. A Detroit classic.
Yes! Living near Traverse City, Michigan. Soon to be 80 and very young at heart.
Gentlemen: Those of us who were teenagers in early 1950’S will remember Leroy G. White from WJLB “Detroit’s Home Station” (AM 1400) Name of his show “Rockin’ With Leroy.” He played latest R&B music and rocked the town. My schoolmate and I often remember rushing home to his upstairs console radio to hear our favorite DJ. We attended Eastern High School (Mack & E. Grand Blvd.) Thanks for considering posting this overlooked top R&B DJ. Respectfully, David Olsen
Don Zee Was indeed The Midnight DJ At CKLW ,
Then For A Short Time–Morning Man–Till The Drake Format Arrived.
Theme Song? Yes– Tarantula By the Tarantulas
He Consistently Used An EVIL LAUGH Bumper–Which was the Harold Perry “Great Gildersleve” Laugh.
He Was Also An Overnight DJ For WXYZ, Prior To the CKLW Stint
Real Name–Don Zemenski
My husband remembers a disc jockey named Bob Beasley during the late 60’s Or early 70’s on WWJ when it was music. He used to golf with him at West Shore in Grosse Ile. Is he still around?
Thank you,
Marie and Ed
If memory serves, Bob Beasley and I were fired the same day at WEXL by way of a memo at the end of our shifts in the commercial live copy note book. Cannot remember the year. But it was just before he started at WWJ.
Add to your list of deceased Tom George of WJBK. Tom hosted various shifts at the station with his last being mornings at the station, leaving in late 1960 or early 61. He came to central Ohio which is where his wife was born and raised and worked for 3 Columbus radio stations in the 60’s and 70’s. His last on air work was for a small radio station in Marysville, Oh. He died in a traffic accident on his way to work in 88.
How is Dan Streeter?
I wouldn’t have become a Detroit Tigers fan (since 1966!) if it wouldn’t have been for Dave Diles! As TV voice for over 30 years of my beloved Tigers he was a Detroit sports icon! (He WAS on Monday Night Football from 1970-1981 but he NOT HOWARD COSELL broke the news of John Lennon’s assassaination in 1980! (He told me that in 1989.) Also he brought Nelson Burton Jr. and Cathy Rigby to ABC and worked with them until CBS snagged him in 1982 where he stayed until 1989. Honored by the PBA NBA and NFL Hall Of Fame he deserves to be an immortal sportscaster!
Detroit radio was special, as were the personalities. I remember a program called “Squeaky & Jitters”? The ” Lone Ranger”, all local creations that had me glued to the receiver. The early 40’s were magic.
I would be very curious if anyone knows anything about my grandfather, Lawrence “Larry” Kelley. He had a show on Detroit’s WXYZ doing human interest stories during the 1940s and also did some voice acting work on radio in the 1950s. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of his show or any others that he worked on. He passed away long before I was born but has always lived as a legend in my mind and heart.
My brother, Jim Heddle, who frequently went by “Big Jim Edwards” on air, worked at various radio stations in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Flint, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Tucson, Arizona, and quite possibly I have left some out since I did not have his photographic memory re: Oldies rock &roll among other topics. He was also the voice of the University of Michigan hockey team briefly in the 1980s. He passed away in early 2018.
He loved reminiscing about many of the people you have listed on this site. Thankyou!
Hi Donna, I am so sadden to learn, today after reading your comments here, in 2022, that Jim Heddle had passed away in 2018! Totally unbeknownst to us here, I am without words. He was a big fan of Detroit radio and of this site as well, and he contributed much here and I often wondered, from time to time, why we have not heard from Jim for quite some time now. I just posted one of his WXYZ October 10, 1966 Detroit Sound Survey charts he kindly provided to us in 2013. Again, Donna, I am so sorry to hear this so late since his passing and I pray you and your family are doing well in 2022. https://mcrfb.com/?p=108973 WXYZ RADIO 1270! THE DETROIT SOUND SURVEY: OCTOBER 10, 1966
Is Jay Buter still alive? Raio host for wJLB Detroit, Michigan
Yes, he is. FYI, Jay Butler can also be found on Facebook as well.
Trying to find information on radio DJ The Prince of Soul…he aired in Trenton NJ around 1974-1975
Does anyone know what any of the DJs at WSDS in Ypsilanti from the early 1970s are doing now, where they are? One that I remember was Dick Riley.
My Uncle , Bud Mitchell , was with WJR and left to help the start up of WJR T in Flint.
I spent 17 years in Detroit Radio / TV. Let me add some information to your list of deceased Radio / TV people who were my co-workers:
J.P. MCarthy – Died 16 August 1995 of a rare form of blood disease. Age 62.
Oscar Frenette – Hired me at WPON in Pontiac, then was my co-worker at WJR News. Died 9 December 1997. Age 71. Emphysema.
Rita Bell – hostess of “Prize Movie” Channel 7 in Detroit. Died here in San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) of Colon cancer on 9 December 2003. Age 78.
Lowell Newton – WXYZ-TV “street reporter” then Editorial Director at the station. Was vacationing in Rome in 1981 when an assassin shot at Pope John Paul II. Newton was first to report from the scene.
Later called to Rome to testify at the trial of the assassin. Died 8 February 2000. Age 87 (?) following heart surgery.
Dave Diles – Died at his Ohio farm from a stroke on 27 December 2009 (not the 2005 date listed). Age 78
Jim Herrington – WXYZ-TV “street reporter”. Died in Sarasota, Florida on 4 January 2013. Age 84.
Jennifer Moore – WJR then WDIV Newscaster. Died 11 July 2014 of cancer. Age 64,
Bill Bonds – WXYZ-TV News anchor. Died 13 December 2014. Age 82.
Don Haney – WXYZ-TV – He helped break the “color barrier” in Detroit TV in the 1960’s. Died in Little Rock, Arkansas on 24 March 2015. Age 80.
2016 was a bad year for WJR alumni. I lost some good friends:
Paul Carey – WJR Sports and Tigers play-by-play announcer with Ernie Harwell. 35 years @ WJR. Died 12 April 2016. Age 88.
Rod Hansen – WJR Award-winning Newscaster. 35 years at the station. Died on the 4th of July 2016. Age 75.
Gene Healy – WJR Newscaster for 27 years died 16 September 2016. Age 85.
Bob Pisor – Detroit News reporter, Coleman Young Press Secretary and WDIV Newscaster for 11 years – Died 7 July 2017 of cancer at his Northern Michigan farm. Age 77.
Frank Benesh – First broadcaster to appear on WJRT Flint when it went on the air. Later WXYZ-TV News Director (and my boss) during the Bill Bonds, Barney Morris, Solon Gray and Ken Thomas eras. Died 7 December 2017. Age 92.
Mike Whorf – WJR Award winning Broadcaster. Died 10 November 2020. Age 88.
Tommy Shannon – Well known and popular CKLW & WXYZ Radio “jock”. Died in Salinas, California 27 May 2021. Age 82.
Frank Beckmann – WJR Newsman, then Sports for 30+ years.. Voice of U. of M. & Detroit Lions football. Died 11 February 2022. Age 72.
I am thoroughly enjoying your look at the “old days” of Detroit Radio / TV. I will look to see if I have any old “radio checks” around.
Thanks.
My parents were great friends with Edgar Guest’s family…both Sr. and Jr….Edgar Jr. did a hilarious comedy tale about my father coming home from a business trip late one night to find the new “watchdog” at the front door vestibule…a collie that my dad had to carry up the stairs because the dog couldn’t handle stairs…we all gathered around the radio and listened to WJR morning show as Edgar Guest Jr. lampooned my dad…it was hilarious.
I knew many of the folks in Detroit media…Joe McCarthy, Dick Purtan, Bill Bonds, Van Patrick, Larry Adderly, Marilyn Turner & John…and Paul W. Smith later in mid 2000’s…too many to mention each name. I can remember as a youngster buying a 6 transistor radio and listening to Dick Biondi on WLS overnight while in my bed in Detroit…thought that was amazing…I still listen to radio overnight with earbuds and a phone online…but now it’s podcasts until morning when I can tune in to favorite stations until the coffee goes on.
I performed in bands during the ’60’s & ’70’s…played many of the local hotspots like Cliff Bell’s (The Winery for a while), Steering Wheel, Motor Bar at Book Cadillac, Ponchartrain gigs on Thursday Jazz nights, Coral Gables, Diamond Lil’s, Mitch Housey’s & Beau Jack’s (near DRC), Roman Gate…so lots of the media folks would be good customers. Joe McCarthy introduced me to dozens of Motown movers & shakers when I worked at The Steering Wheel…Joe knew everyone in town
A couple of names that you can unfortunately add to this list include John O’Leary of WCSX, WWWW (W4 Rock), and WABX, Joe Wade Formicola of WWWW (W4 Country) and WYCD, Linda Lee of WYCD, and Sharon Foster-Santoni of WWWW (W4 Country).
I remember listening to Marshall Wells and his farm report. Was on before JP. Going back a few years!
Mike Miller worked at WXYZ in the late 1960s. I met him when he was a talk host on WJNO in West Palm Beach, in 1988 when I was a talk-show director and producer. Mike is a very nice gentleman and in fact totally by strange coincidence, I moved from West Palm Beach to Jacksonville in the 1990s and discovered he lives only a few homes away from me!
Yes we talk and we chat and he still is a very nice man.
Correction: Mike was a WXYZ in the late 1990s.
LeRoy G White. Yeah I know he was a drunk, and fell backwards to his death back in the early 70’s from a 2nd story flat, over a market apartment building, in the back. Ruled an accident, but still he worked in Radio, along with Soupy Sales.