R.I.P. Tom Swank, WNKO, WHTH Newark, OH GM

Tom Swank

Employees at the Newark, OH based Classic Hits WNKO 101.7 FM and Country WHTH 107.7 are mourning the death of their Gernal Manage. Tom Swank.

He died died in a car crash Tuesday afternoon in Heath, OH.  Swank, 73, was pronounced dead at the scene after his car flipped over into a ditch.

He joined WNKO/WHTH in 1970 as a salesman after working for the Newark Advocate newspaper, and was promoted to general manager of the radio station in 1988. He remained in that position until his death.

Swank spent much of his tenure fighting to keep the station under local ownership, station owner John Franks told The Columbus Dispatch.

The general manager believed a radio station could be a good servant to its community, he said.

“He stood behind those beliefs,” Franks said.