R.I.P.: Former Detroit Rock DJ Bob Bauer

Bob Bauer

Radio personality Bob Bauer, whose voice was familiar to decades of Detroit rock listeners, has died at his home in Pinckney.

He was 63, according to The Detroit Free Press.

His death was confirmed Friday by the Livingston County Medical Examiner's Office.

Bauer, a 1979 graduate of the Specs Howard broadcast school, was best known for his tenure at Detroit stations WLLZ-FM ("Wheels"), WABX-FM, WCSX-FM and others. During the last decade, he embraced online radio, including a pair of programs webcast from the UDetroit studio in Detroit's Harmonie Park district.

Most recently, he hosted a show that spotlighted local music at DetroitMusicStation.com.

Doug Podell, now of WCSX, was program director at WLLZ when he hired Bauer for the afternoon-drive shift in 1984.

It was there that Bauer became known for hosting annual charitable food drives, a station promotion then known as Wheels for Meals. Setting up base at a prominent metro Detroit street corner, Bauer would live in a rented house trailer for several weeks during the holiday season, collecting food items from listeners and others.

"He donated his time energy and effort to do that, and it turned out to be a lifetime thing for him," said Podell.