R.I.P.: Jim 'JR' Reitz, Longtime Utica NY, MA Radio Personality

Jim Reitz

Longtime radio personality Jim 'JR' Reitz died Monday at the age of 66. Jim was working in New Bedford and Boston recently and news reports say he passed away on Monday morning at his home in New Bedford.

J.R. was first heard on WFHN Fun 107 in 1994 as the host of J.R. and Kookinbocker in the Morning. He later co-hosted the show with the late Sharon Fogaren, who passed away suddenly in 2009.

In 2013, Reitz retired as Program Director and Morning Show Host on Fun 107, and later returned to New Bedford earlier this year as an afternoon news anchor on Townsquare Media's WBSM 1420 AM in the New Bedford-Fall River, MA market.

He  was legendary in the Utica-Rome, NY radio scene where he early part of his career on WTLB 1310 AM when the station was one of the big Top-40 stations in Utica. He later helped launch Rock 107 at 107.3 FM in Washington Mills, NY in the early 1980's when he served as Program Director and Afternoon Drive host on the FM Top-40 station.

Bill Keeler of WIBX 950 AM stated, "I met Jim in 1989 when I started as host of the 'Rock 107 Morning Crew' and he was my first boss as a morning radio personality. Jim understood the formatics of radio. For someone who enjoyed pushing the limits like I did, he was good for me as he stressed the importance of staying true to the basics. Jim would sit down with me every week to go over my air check tape and critique my breaks. He understood that 'funny' was subjective and he was always constructive and respectful; even though there were times that (if I'm honest with myself) I probably missed the humor-mark by a mile."