Jim Wychor, who died Friday, July 14, was KWOA AM/FM’s co-owner, vice president and general manager for 26 years.
Dan Dobson
Dan Dobson recalled that Wychor hired him in December 1974. It was Dobson's first full-time radio job, and he would remain with KWOA through 1988.
Dobson remembered he began his time at KWOA by working a schedule that included Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday afternoons, Sunday sign-on and then the Monday afternoon shift, also covering city council meetings on Monday evenings.
Dobson later advanced to positions that included program director and operations manager. He recalled Wychor as a man who cared about the people who worked for him, noting that he had well-attended picnics for employees and their families in his backyard each year. Dobson also detailed an example of Wychor's compassion, stating that a station employer had cancer but wound up never missing a pay period thanks to Wychor.
As far as Wychor's philosophy for local radio, Dobson said he was putting community news and information first among everything else. Wychor always had his employees' backs, Dobson added, as he remembered an instance in which he wrote a letter to the National Weather Service after WCCO radio had received accolades for its coverage of a southwest Minnesota blizzard. Wychor, Dobson said, wrote that he had three employees who stayed at the Worthington station 24/7 for multiple days reporting on the storm.
Visitation for Wychor will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Circle Pines, with the service to follow at 3 p.m. at the church. We’ll have more memories of Wychor shared this week; stay tuned to Radio Works stations and myradioworks.net. Click here to go to our podcasts page and hear an interview with Dobson, and check back for reflections from others.
Neil Roberts
In 1973, Neil Roberts came to work with KWOA's Jim Wychor, who passed away Friday, July 14.
Roberts recalled that he was working in Knoxville, Iowa at his first job in radio when a friend informed him that a "morning man" was needed in Worthington. He wound up taking the job and staying in Worthington until Wychor left the radio station -- in either 1989 or 1990, Roberts said,.
Roberts said that he and fellow employees didn't really appreciate what kind of boss he was right away. Once "we kind of got away from him," he explained, they realized that everything he did "was for us ... not for him but us and the community."
Wychor and others also helped bring the National Junior College Wrestling Tournament to Worthington, recalled Roberts, who shared stories about asking folks to give him $50 and, when they asked what for, gave them tournament tickets. He also was known to say, "I don't know a lot about wrestling, but I know all there is to know about officiating."
Roberts noted that Wychor loved hosting his annual picnic for radio station employees and their families and also remembered a story about recently deceased KWOA employee Bruce Lease reporting that he was sick and had been advised by a doctor to take a couple of days off. "That's good. I'll give you Saturday and Sunday," Roberts said Wychor responded.
Roberts also reflected that the late KWOA broadcaster Paul Rahders, along with Lease and Wychor, now just be reunited and starting a new radio station together.
We’ll have more memories of Wychor shared this week; stay tuned to Radio Works stations and myradioworks.net. Click here to go to our podcasts page and hear an interview with Roberts, and check back for reflections from others.
Alan Kahlich
Alan Kahlich of Cuero, Texas, knew Jim Wychor from the Worthington-Cuero turkey racing rivalry that began back in 1973. Both communities laid claim to being the Turkey Capitol of the World, so it was resolved that a race between turkeys representing each city would decide it.
Kahlich was a member of an early Cuero race team. He recalled Wychor meeting team members at the Worthington airport and interviewing him for a radio news story while riding around town in Wychor's van.
Kahlich recalled being on the Cuero race team in the third year of the annual showdown, which took place in 1975. But that wasn't the only time he sat down with Wychor for an interview. Back then, the Cuero race team often either flew directly into Worthington or flew first into Minneapolis, then got on a smaller plane to head into Worthington. The Cuero contingent was much smaller in those days, Kahlich noted.
Kahlich said he's surprised the Great Gobbler Gallop between Worthington's Paycheck and Cuero's Ruby Begonia is still going strong in 2023, as he added with his laugh that he didn't think the event would last five years. Many friendships have formed between residents of the cities, though, including the one between he and Wychor.
Wychor was remembered by Kalhich for a hat with turkey feathers that the Worthington broadcaster regularly wore in conjunction with King Turkey Day and Turkeyfest.
Additional memories of Wychor are expected to be shared this week; stay tuned to Radio Works stations and myradioworks.net. Click here to go to our podcasts page and hear an interview with Kahlich and check back for reflections from others.
Matt Wychor
Matt Wychor, a son of legendary local brodcaster Jim Wychor -- who died last Friday -- said his dad came to the station in 1963 and remained until 1989.
Matt said he was 3 years old when his family came to town, and he went on to graduate from high school here as well as attend junior college. Being the son of a well-known community member, he said, meant he couldn’t sneak anything by him or his mother, and he also recalled the routine of eating breakfasts while listening to his dad on the radio.
A fair amount of time was spent on the radio station, Matt said, but not on the air. He said began mowing the lawn at the station while in grade school and later did landscaping work on the property, including planting multiple trees on the east side.
Matt explained that his father found it important to treat everyone in the same way, whether they were a bank president or a janitor at the church. He also talked his dad’s involvement with the Minnesota Broadcasters Association and the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, noting that his father donated many items to that facility.
Even though Wychor left Worthington 34 years ago, he still thought fondly of Worthington and continued to consider it as a hometown. Matt said above all, his father wanted to always do the best thing for the Worthington community and its residents.
Click here to go to our podcasts page and hear an interview with Matt Wychor.
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