CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A beloved member of our West Virginia Radio Corporation family has died. Paul Howard died Monday at his Charleston home after a brief illness. Howard was 93 and until only a few months ago reported daily to his desk at West Virginia Radio’s Charleston Division where he sold advertising.
Howard started his radio career in 1947 after returning from his service in the Army during World War II. Unsure of what to do, Howard heard an ad on legendary Pittsburgh radio station KDKA for a 13 week broadcasting school. He attended and earned his certificate and an acetate record to use as a resume. The work led to a position at a radio station in Flat River, Missouri. His career moved to Bellaire, Ohio across the river from Wheeling, W.Va.. He soon moved on to a station in Akron, Ohio. Howard moved to Charleston in the early 1960’s to take a job as a rock and roll dee-jay with Capital Broadcasting on WCAW Radio.
Howard’s career is chronicled in this extensive piece from Brad McElhinny in 2016.
“I’ve been in radio 50-years and always felt I was a junior to Paul Howard,” said West Virginia Radio Corporation President and General Manger Dale Miller.
“Not just because of his longevity in the business, but because of how much he cared about the radio station and the people he worked with. It’s rare you work with somebody who wants to come to work every day into their 90’s. The only reason he didn’t come to work the day he died was because he couldn’t. We love him and we’re going to miss him.”
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Fellow Hall of Fame broadcaster Randy Dameron co-hosted a morning show with Paul from 1987 to 1989.
“The company bought a billboard at the end of the 35th Street Bridge and put our picture on it. We had a hoot with that,” said Dameron. “It was the two best years of my life in radio. We laughed constantly and he was always quick witted and always had a joke.”
Paul spent a brief time in management, but realized his love was on the air and working in sales. He was most comfortable when he was one on one with people according to longtime co-worker Jenny Murray of Charleston radio station V-100.
“The thing Paul taught me in all my years was how to treat people–whether they were friends or clients. He was constantly on the phone and it wasn’t always about business. More often than not it was, ‘Hey, how are you doing, let’s get together and have lunch and get caught up,” Murray explained. “He did that with everybody–including some people who hadn’t worked here for years, but he still stayed in touch.”
Murray shared a cubicle next to Paul for many years and had a front row seat to many of his conversations with clients and friends a like. She laughed at one where Howard was having difficulty getting a client to pay.
“He chatted on the phone with the most pleasant and polite conversation you could ever hear with this guy who owed money for his advertising,” said Murray. “Eventually, Paul told them good-bye, hung up the phone, then looked at me and said, ‘…and PAY YOUR DAMN BILL!’ I still laugh about that to this day.”
Howard celebrated his 93rd birthday in October with his radio family at the Smokehouse Restaurant on Charleston’s West Side. It was a surprise celebration and he was thrilled.
Perhaps Paul Howard’s attitude toward life could best be surmised in a remark he made when I visited him earlier this year. Due to poor circulation, his leg was amputated leaving him confined to a wheelchair. I helped him gather his socks from a top drawer in his apartment to put in a lower drawer so he could more easily access them.. His remark was an observation for the ages, and pure Paul Howard to those who knew him.
“These will now last me twice as long since I’ll only need one at a time now.”
Funeral arrangements for Howard are being finalized.