R.I.P.: Roy Bellavia, Former Chicago Radio Executive

Roy Bellavia

Roy Bellavia was a Chicago-area radio executive who for decades oversaw an eclectic potpourri of ethnic and foreign-language programming on WSBC-AM.

In the 1960s, Bellavia was program director of WSBC’s FM counterpart, which eventually took the call letters WXRT 93.1 FM.

“He was wonderful. He was very inventive and very creative,” said Danny Lee, former owner of WSBC and WXRT.

Bellavia, 88, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease Feb. 20 while in hospice care at the Presence Resurrection Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Park Ridge, said his wife, Kathy Byrne-Bellavia.