Robert Richer and Bill Coleman bring to our attention the passing of their friend and colleague, broadcaster and engineer Bill Hughes, the week of Sept. 15, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, at the age of 62. They provided the following information.
Bill’s career included on-air, management and his true calling — broadcast engineering.
His career began in 1974 at KBOX(AM) in Dallas. He began his engineering career in 1985 in the East Texas area where he continued most of his career up until his death.
He took a brief hiatus from Texas in 1992 when he moved to Hawaii. At the time Bill was contracted by French media giant Hachette to build radio stations in China for the Chinese government and South China broadcasting. He chose to move to Hawaii so he could commute to China, because he refused not to have residence in the United States.
He returned to Texas in 1998 where he continued his broadcast engineering career primarily with the East Texas Radio group. Bill was a very active and proud member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers. He is survived by his sister, Judy Williamson of McKinney, Texas, and several nieces and nephews.
Coleman, owner of Oklahoma-based Team Radio, said, “I would say Bill was the most ‘normal’ engineer I ever knew. You could talk to him about anything.”
Richer, chairman of Crossed Field Antennas, worked with Hughes when Richer was a group manager in East Texas. He said, “Bill was a first-rate engineer and a dear pal. I am still stunned over his much too early demise.”
