Jerry Thomas, a long-time broadcaster in the Cincinnati market who delighted morning radio listeners with his cast of characters, died on Thursday at the age of 83.
Thomas had been battling Alzheimer’s disease. His passing was announced by his son, Brian, on Facebook.
“Dad passed away early this morning,” Brian Thomas wrote on the social media platform Thursday. “He was a wonderful father and husband. Thanks to everyone for all their thoughts and prayers during his battle with Alzheimer’s. Love you Dad.”
Thomas had a lengthy career in broadcasting, including 44 years at WKRC (550 AM) in Cincinnati. His morning show was often top in the ratings, even though WKRC’s signal dwarfed that of competitor WLW (700 AM).
“He related so well to the listener,” John Phillips, a traffic reporter with WKRC, told public radio station WVXU (91.7 FM) in an interview. “If Jerry said it was worth it, you could take it to the bank.”
Thomas left WKRC in 1992 and retired from the industry entirely by 2006. Even after his retirement, he continued to be heard on Cincinnati radio, with Thomas voicing commercial spots and making occasional appearances on his son Brian’s WKRC program.
I worked with Jerry twice- and he was undoubtedly one of the most amazing morning people in Cincinnati. He also hosted “PM Magazine” for WKRC-TV. His departure from WKRC-AM in 1992 was short-lived as Jacor purchased the station from the Taft Broadcasting successor and Jerry returned as a very well respected talk host. His show with Craig Kopp blazed new trails as Jerry’s conservative stance on most everything was complemented by Craig’s liberal leaning. It was always fun to listen to. The station’s long list of great personalities (Rich King, Dave Lee, Joe Lomas, Alan Browning) had long departed the station – but Jerry lived on through it all. Sad to hear of his passing. His presence was part of one of the highlights of my radio programming career.