R.I.P.: Former Chicago Radio News Anchor Barry Keefe

Barry Keefe

Longtime Chicago radio newsman Barry Keefe is being remembered as a consummate broadcaster whose booming voice conveyed warmth and authority to morning-drive listeners for decades.

Keefe, who stepped down in 2008 after 30 years as director of news and public affairs at WTMX 100.9 FM, died Sunday at his home in west suburban Wheaton.

According to Chicago media write Robert Feder, Keefe was 62 and had been fighting pancreatic cancer for about a year, according to his son, Alex Keefe, a former reporter for Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5 FM who now works for Vermont Public Radio.

Keefe was best known for his long run as news anchor on Eric Ferguson and Kathy Hart’s top-rated morning show on The Mix. He joined the hot adult-contemporary station in 1978 when it was still known as WCLR under previous owner Bonneville International.

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of our first ever newsman, Barry Keefe. https://t.co/SQiO4uKNd7

— Eric & Kathy (@EricandKathy) January 5, 2016

Born on Chicago’s North Side, Keefe grew up in Niles, Michigan, where he began his career as a weekend disc jockey at WNIL while still in high school. He continued in radio at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, and later worked for stations in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.