R.I.P.: Milwaukee Radio's Gordon Hinkley Passes

Gordon Hinkley, whose Milwaukee radio career spanned more than a half century and whose voice was as familiar as an old friend to thousands of listeners, died this week.

He was 88, according to jsonline.com.

Once called the "Granddaddy of Milwaukee radio," whose "Ask Your Neighbor" show ran on WTMJ 620 AM for more than 30 years, Hinkley died Monday.

"He was the cornerstone of WTMJ radio for so many years," said Steven J. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Journal Communications, publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"He knew how to connect with an audience, and you could tell he just loved being on that radio," said Smith, the former vice president and general manager of WTMJ and WKTI radio. "People just believed in him."


Gordon Lyle Hinkley was born in Port Edwards, Wis., in 1925 and married Joyce Berryman, his high school sweetheart, in 1943.

Hinkley's radio career began in 1941, when he hosted a Sunday piano show at WFHR in Wisconsin Rapids after an audition for a talent contest sponsored by the station.  Hinkley, who also emceed a Saturday show for teens, served three years in the U.S. Army in Europe and did some announcing for the Armed Services Radio Network.

He also worked for WSAU radio in Wausau, and in 1950, he became an announcer with WTMJ radio, where he began hosting the station's morning show.

In 1961, Hinkley introduced the "Ask Your Neighbor" program, where he invited listeners to call and exchange information, such as household tips, advice on how to find a good spot remover and other everyday questions.

"People would call in asking about recipes or how to remove gum stuck to corduroy," recalled Steve Wexler, executive vice president for TV and radio of the Journal Broadcast Group, who listened to the show as a young boy and met Hinkley while interning at WTMJ radio in the mid-1970s.

"Listeners loved him. Advertisers trusted him. And all of us who knew him learned from him."


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