R.I.P.: Pablo de Jesus Colon Jr., Bridgeport CT Station Owner, Host

Pablo de Jesus Colon Jr.

Pablo de Jesús Colón Jr., a groundbreaking radio personality who founded WCUM 1450-AM in Bridgeport CT and was among the first group inducted into the Connecticut Broadcaster’s Association Hall of Fame, died Thursday. 

He was 86 reports westport-news.com. 

The younger de Jesús Colón described his father as a tireless advocate for the Bridgeport Latino community, who would use his radio program as a platform for listeners to reach their elected officials. The elder de Jesús Colón would make sure the program’s phone lines were open whenever local officials were interviewed.

“He really served and believed that the role of the station was to serve as the voice of the community,” his son said in a phone interview Saturday.

In 2015, the Connecticut Broadcaster’s Association selected him to be among the 11 first inductees into the organization’s hall of fame.

He began his radio career in the Dominican Republic in 1955, before emigrating to Puerto Rico in 1961 where he continued his radio career, according a video produced for his induction into the Connecticut Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The video was narrated by his son.

He came to the United States in 1969, settling in Hartford, where he worked as a radio personality at WEXT. Later he moved to WLVH, where he worked as a radio announcer, sales manager and executive vice president.

In 1989 he would found his own company, WCUM 1450-AM.