Long-time radio host Frank Stowers inducted into WV Broadcasting Hall of Fame

West Virginia Public Radio’s part time classical music announcer, Frank Stowers, was among the 2013 class of inductees into the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame on October 12.

The remaining eight inductees are: Jack Kane, Ralph Allen, Charles Baily, Shirly “Kitty” Bocock, the late Tom Hicks, Kay Murray, Emil Varney and George Woody. 

Stowers’ first job in radio was after World War II as an announcer at WHIS Radio in Bluefield.  A graduate of Duke University, he later worked in Human Resources at Union Carbide in Charleston from 1956 until his retirement in 1985.  He was one of Carbide’s media relations contacts and did narrations for company film and TV productions.  Since retiring, he has spent the past 28 years doing what he loves — working at West Virginia Public Radio as a part time staff announcer.  A job he continues to this day.

The West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame is located at the Museum of Radio & Technology in Huntington.  It’s mission is to commemorate exceptional broadcasters, who through talent and dedication, have brought great honor to the state or contributed the most to its cultural heritage by entertaining, informing, or otherwise enhancing the means of broadcasting; and to provide a repository at the museum for a collection of broadcasting memorabilia to keep alive the memory of those we celebrate so that their examples of excellence may educate and inspire future generations.

Credit Beth Vorhees

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Notables who have been inducted into the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame since its inception eight years ago include Soupy Sales, Don Knotts, Little Jimmy Dickens, Bob Denver and Larry Groce, host of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage.