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Frank Berry |
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WINT-AM & FM WXKL-FM WGTO-AM WQPD WONN/WPCV WVFM |
| From Jim Maloy's
(defunct) website RadioYears.com "Frank’s career in radio began during the summer of 1966 between his sophomore and junior years at Winter Haven High School. His only exposure to radio up to that point in time was following chief engineer Angelo Fazzari around the transmitters of the Winter Haven stations he owned – WINT AM & FM. One stormy summer afternoon, Angelo was out of town and someone called from the FM, telling him that lightning had struck the tower and that the station was off the air, and could do anything to get it back up. So he rode his bicycle to the station, repaired the damage, and got the station back on the air – and he didn’t even have an FCC First Class License at that time! Not long afterwards though, he got one, making it all legal and official from then on. In the years that followed, Frank worked for numerous radio stations in Polk County, either as chief engineer or as a contract engineer. Among them were Winter Haven’s WINT-AM and WXKL-FM (1967-1970) where he also pulled an airshift, Cypress Gardens’ WGTO (1971-1973 and 1979-1982), and Lakeland’s WQPD (1972-1974), WONN/WPCV (1973-1975), and WVFM (1974-1977). He’s also been with a number of stations in the Tampa Bay area, including WQYK (1977-1979 and 1987-1994). In between, he spent a couple years at KOB AM & FM in Albuquerque (1982-1983) and ventured into the realm of television engineering at Tampa’s WTVT Channel 13 (1983-1986). He also worked with WSUN/WYNF (1986-1987). In 1994, Frank returned to WTVT’s engineering department. This time, he stayed with the station until he retired in May 2010." |
 Frank
Berry Passed
6-3-1950-9-12-23Frank Berry passed away on Sep 11, 2023. Frank was a retired radio and television engineer who worked in the Central Florida and Tampa/St. Petersburg markets for many years. He was the Chief Engineer for many stations including: WGTO-AM 540, WVFM-FM 94.1, WONN-AM 1230, WQPD-AM 1430, WPCV-FM 97.5, WIPC-AM 1280, WINT-AM 1560, WBAR-AM 1460 WQPD-AM 1430 WXKL-FM 97.5, and WQYK-FM/AM in Tampa. In 2019, Frank purchased the world's largest broadcast discussion website, www.RadioDiscussions.com. Jim Maloy has a full biography of Frank on his Radio Years website. Frank requested no funeral. His family will have a private celebration of life for him. From Frank's cousin Julie Berry Traynor via Radio Discussion; Frank Berry was born June 3, 1950, in Delaware, Ohio. He was the second of six children born to Frank and Jennie Berry. He was always a mechanical wizard. He could fix many things from the time he was a kid. He also played the piano effortlessly, a natural gift. Our piano made smooth music under his fingers Mom and Grandma loved to listen to his tunes...Frank understood radio and the workings of television and other electronic devices from the time he was a child. In fact, he became truly enamored with television after a 1955 visit to then channel 13, WWTV, in Cadillac (,Michigan). We appeared on a local kid’s show where we were each asked what we wanted to be and do. When it was Frank’s turn, and with big eyes, he pointed to the huge television camera and said, “I want to run one of those!” He was beyond thrilled when the camera man let him check it all out after the show. He had found his calling. Frank was a natural. It was uncanny. He was a brilliant radio and television engineer and worked his way up through the ranks of small radio stations in Florida, and Michigan. He was a disc jockey and engineer at a well known station at the old Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida (WGTO-AM 540). When he retired it was from the FOX television, WTVT-13 in Tampa Bay, where he had been chief engineer and the administrator of the station’s large computer network for 20 years. For all of his accomplishments, he’d best like to be remembered as that really smart Berry kid from Marion, Michigan. Frank Berry passed away on September 11, 2023 in Midland, Michigan. He is survived by his beloved and long-time partner and spouse, Raymond; his siblings, Sandy Berry, Beth Iasimone, and Jill Wells and his special niece Becky Wells LaBrie RN; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded by his parents and brothers Michael and Jackson; sisters Paula and Holly. RIP my dear cousin Frank. You’re home to stay at last. |
