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Jim Ivey aka Johnny Gee Passes
4-4-20
James Ivey, former 1960s Orlando radio personality
known as 'Johnny Gee' and later innovative business owner, died Thursday, April
2nd from complications from Parkinson's disease at age 78 in Orlando, with his
daughter by his side. Jimmy Ivey was
born in Burlington, North Carolina, on December 29, 1941. His father, a mechanic
in the U.S. Air Force, moved the family to military bases in Germany, France,
and New Mexico in the years following WWII before settling in Orlando in 1959.
While still a senior at Edgewater High School, Jim applied for an engineering
job at a local radio station and landed
a position as a disc jockey instead. His radio career began in Orlando at WHOO(-AM
990) in 1960, and in 1961 he moved to WMYR in Ft. Myers where
he hosted The Jim Ivey Show. In 1964, he returned to Orlando and became known as
Johnny Gee on Orlando's premiere top 40 station, WLOF(-AM
950), during AM music radio's heyday, as
a member of the "Happy Hitparaders", working the afternoon shift with
the catchy jingle "You and Me and Johnny Gee." He remained at WLOF
until deciding to leave broadcasting to start
his own business in 1967. Jim
remembered his time in radio fondly, but decided he never wanted to work for
anyone else again, and thus began a series of businesses he owned and operated,
mostly oriented around his expertise in
broadcasting equipment and his early interest in electronic engineering. He
created a video and audio tape duplication company called Videx in the
late 60s, and in the 1970s owned and operated Ivey Communications, which
specialized in standards conversion and duplicated various movies and TV shows
for foreign markets in their native broadcast standards. In
1979, following a family helicopter ride, Jim decided he wanted to learn to fly
helicopters himself, and even before completing his pilot's training formed Ivey
Aviation, based out of what was then
Herndon Airport (now Orlando Executive Airport). His small fleet of helicopters
was leased by the local news affiliates in an era before stations owned their
choppers, as one of his helicopters would do triple duty flying for Channels 2,
6, and 9. He personally flew national network anchors when they covered the
early Space Shuttle launches at Cape
Canaveral, and also flew for local and national media during coverage of the
Winter Park sinkhole in 1981. While
helicopters remained a hobby into the 1990s, the second half of the 80s saw him
return to video and broadcasting, both through the sale of programming to
foreign markets and later forming a
company that refurbished and resold broadcast-grade equipment worldwide. In
1990, he parlayed his technical knowledge into a medical company
on the cutting edge of the shift from analog to digital archiving of heart
catheterization procedures. In recent years, he returned to video equipment,
leading a semi-retired life while battling
the health effects of Parkinson's. Jim had an
affinity for water sports and lived out most of his years in Orlando from his
lakefront house on Lake Conway. He was an avid water skier, and weekends were
usually spent entertaining friends with boats, jet-skis, inner-tubes, and even
parasails, as well as launching helicopter rides from the backyard of the house.
The early interest in engineering never left
him, and he was capable of fixing almost any mechanical or electrical problem.
He was an autodidact, which kept him on the cutting edge of technology and
was one of the first to own a cell phone, home video recorders, and other
gadgets. He is survived by his three
children, Jason, Courtney, and Jonathan; and two grandchildren, Hayden and
India. He will be missed by all who knew his
charisma, his gift of gab, his confidence and humor. A service to commemorate
his colorful and multifaceted life will be held at a later date to be determined
in the Orlando area. If you'd like to be on the future invite list, please write
to jamesiveyservice@gmail.com.
Published
in the Orlando Sentinel from Apr. 4 to Apr. 5, 2020
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In a wonderful email, Mr. Jim Ivey tells us about some of his radio career.
"It still amazes me after all these years how much
