R.I.P.: WIBC Indy’s Big John Gillis Was 64

Long-time WIBC personality Big John Gillis died at his home Friday night. He was 64.

A family spokesman told WIBC Gillis had been dealing with some breathing problems over the last couple of weeks and his body just shut down.

Emmis President and C.E.O. Jeff Smulyan issued a statement saying, "WIBC and the entire Emmis family are saddened by the passing of Big John Gillis. John was an icon in Central Indiana whose captivating personality touched generations of listeners in our community. John will be missed by all if us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Sherry and his entire family."

Dave “The King” Wilson, a former longtime afternoon personality at WIBC and a fixture on WFBQ-FM’s (94.7) “Bob & Tom Show,” recalled that Gillis always had a smile — always.

“He was always in a good mood,” Wilson, who left the station in 2009, told the IndianapolisStar early Saturday. “No matter what life threw at him he soldiered on. He was just so kind-hearted, and always quick with a joke.

“He was a gentle soul.”

Gillis came from a legion of radio reporters and comedians whose on-air presence spanned a couple generations and reached celebrity status, names including Wilson, Jerry Baker and Jeff Pigeon, among others, said former WIBC weekend show host John Strauss.

“Big John was one of the best-known people in Indianapolis radio, really well-loved in the community,” said Strauss, a former Indianapolis Star columnist and Gillis colleague who now teaches at Ball State University. “Big John was fun, generous and always had a kind word.”

Gillis grew up in the northeastern Indiana town of Howe. He was editor of his high school newspaper and got his first radio job at WSTR-AM in nearby Sturgis, Mich., at age 16, reporting on school news.

In 1968, he joined WNAP-FM, the sister station at the time to WIBC, after attending Indiana University. He worked at stations in Boston and Philadelphia before returning to WIBC in 1980 as a traffic reporter.

Gillis boasted that he'd spent more than 20,000 hours in a "whirlybird" in the sky before his retirement in 2007.

Naptown Rock Radio Wars is a feature length documentary about the history of rock and roll radio in Indianapolis. It had its world premiere as a theatrical showing earlier this year.

Radio legacy of John Gillis includes rocking at WNAP

Gillis also made FM radio history as part of the first crew of DJs at WNAP-FM -- the station that embraced counterculture anthems and attitudes in the 1960s.

WNAP debuted on July 22, 1968, and Gillis handled the 6 to 10 a.m. on-air shift.

According to a story by David Linquist at indystar.com, Gillis was billed as "Wild One" John Gillis. The nickname proved to be short-lived.

"I was the tallest (DJ), and there was this song out by Jimmy Dean called 'Big Bad John,' so I got to be Big John," Gillis told Indianapolis Monthly magazine in 1995.

"Naptown Rock Radio Wars," a 2012 documentary made by David Fulton, includes an interview with Gillis amid the film's examination of rival stations WIBC, WIFE and WNAP.

WNAP was born when Fairbanks Broadcasting -- parent company of Top 40-themed WIBC -- grew weary of losing listeners to WIFE. Fairbanks made WNAP-FM (93.1) an alternative to everything the WIFE "Good Guys" represented.

When WIFE boycotted the Doors in response to Jim Morrison's notoriously naughty onstage behavior, WNAP chose to spin songs by the Doors once an hour.

Read More Now.