John Poole Remembered

Private services were held last week for John H. Poole, founder of KBIG-AM and FM, Los Angeles television Channel 22 and a winery in Temecula. His son said Poole died Christmas Day in Santa Ana after a short illness. He was 86.
According to information from his family, Poole was born in Detroit in 1917 and began his commercial broadcasting career at the age of 16 when he ran live radio broadcasts of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. He was certified as a radio engineer at the RCA Institute in Chicago and worked as a radio operator, navigator and fisherman on tuna clippers, then as a Merchant Marine radio operator and navigator. As an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps Signal Corps he was involved in the early military use of radar.
After the war he purchased stations in Santa Maria and Pasadena, and in 1952 started KBIG, known as “The Catalina Island Station.” He was also involved in FM and UHF, ultimately involved in helping start nine radio stations and four TV.
He is survived by his wife Olivia Poole, six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The family asked that donations be sent to St. Luke’s House Inc., 6040 Southport Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814.