Warren Krech ends full-time radio career

Friday’s version of the KWOS “Open Air” program ended with Roy Rogers singing “Happy Trails To You,” followed by Porky Pig’s famous ending to Warner Brothers’ cartoons: “That’s All Folks!”

That’s how Warren Krech’s retirement began after a 42-year history as a radio broadcaster.

“I have always thought that I would never retire, because this was never a job. This was never work. This was, always, fun,” Krech, 66, told the News Tribune after the show’s 9 a.m. end.

“What really made me decide (to retire) was my grandchildren getting a little bit older … getting to the age where we hang out a lot.

“As much as I do love radio, I do have family priorities.”

Krech and his wife, Marcia, have two adult children — a son, Ben, and daughter, Sarah, who with her husband and two children — with a third due soon — live in St. Louis.

He has no regrets about deciding to retire, even after becoming a “household name” in many Mid-Missouri homes.

“I feel like I have been blessed in this community with great listeners, great friends and people who have advertised with me for years,” he said. “Good things come to an end — and this is one of those things.”

Krech — a South Dakota native — began his career while still serving with the U.S. Army.

He had other radio jobs before moving to Jefferson City from Wisconsin in 1984, to work for Frank Newell at KJMO.

Broadcasting is notorious for being a nomadic business, of getting “promotions” by moving to larger communities.

Still, Krech said, his then-young family’s move to Jefferson City was intended to be a long-term thing — even though 30 years ago he didn’t expect to be retiring from a job here.

“My wife is a teacher, and she had had to put things on-hold while we jumped around at a couple of stations for about the first 10 years of our marriage,” he recalled. “She didn’t, really, get a chance to settle in for her teaching (career).

“When we moved here, this was a very good opportunity in a beautiful city … and it was really her turn to settle down.”

Also, he said, he always wanted his two then-“very young” kids “to be from somewhere, not just bouncing around all their lives.”

Eventually, Newell sold KJMO and KWOS to the Cape Girardeau-based Zimmer family and sometime after that Krech was enticed to switch to Cumulus Broadcasting’s KOQL in Columbia.

“It’s just a changing environment all the time,” he noted, “so I was lucky to stay here in Central Missouri.

“I’ve always considered Jefferson City my main base, even when I had a studio in Columbia.”

Then he transferred back to KLIK, which by then Cumulus also owned, and into the talk radio format.

“They asked, ‘Do you want to get out of the DJ thing and do news-talk?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely,’” he recalled. “I’m so happy I got into that, because I was an aging disc jockey at that point … and I really liked news-talk because it gave me a chance to work with the community and to really support the community.”

In retirement, he plans to continue doing master-of-ceremonies work for the Vitae Society and for Operation Bugle Boy.

He also said recently he hoped to be able to do more theater work — nighttime stage work conflicts with being at work in the early morning.

Kelley Ray, a 25-year radio veteran “on-and-off,” who has worked “in all four time zones,” is moving from KRMS, Osage Beach, to succeed Krech in the morning program.

“I feel like I’m Drew Carey following Bob Barker (on ‘The Price Is Right’),” he told the News Tribune. “This is, probably, the biggest thing that I’ve ever been a part of … to try to fill in the shoes of someone who’s been in the market and is dearly loved.”

John Marsh has worked with Krech for 23 years, at KJMO and KWOS.

“We did the ‘Tape from Home’ at the Mall, and we had people (record) their comments to friends and family members” during Operation Desert Storm, he recalled as one of their best works together.

He also recalled their days together at “the music station, getting pretty silly and crazy. It’s been a good ride, and it’s been pretty positive.”

Krech said: “My biggest reward in radio has been to try to be a positive voice in the community.

“I think we’ve always had a lot of people who are more than willing to complain and to gripe.

“And I didn’t want to be one of those … and it’s been very rewarding to help out a lot of different groups.”