R.I.P.: WJR's Longtime Voice Frank Beckmann Dies at 72

Frank Beckmann, 72, a fixture at WJR 760 AM for 48 years, died Saturday night of vascular dementia, according to his wife, Karen. He had been living his final days at an assisted living facility in Clarkston. Ailing for much of the 11 months since he retired, he had been in hospice care for several days.

The Detroit News reports Beckmann began his career at WJR as a reporter in 1973, launched a pioneering sports talk show called Sportswrap eight years later, called play-by-play for UM football, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers, and spent his last 17 years at the station hosting a 9 a.m. weekday talk show.

Throughout his career, he was the only person to broadcast games for all four of Detroit’s major sports teams -- the Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings and Lions.

Beckmann said he was proud of having moved home plate from the old Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park when it opened. Still, the broadcaster said last year that his favorite experience was spending 33 years in the Big House broadcast booth, announcing for Michigan Football -- which included a memorable national championship.

However, Beckmann’s career stretched beyond sports. Born in Germany, he grew up on the east side of Detroit, before moving to Warren where he attended Cousino High School because it had a radio station. He began his career as a one-man news staff in Alpena before moving to WPON in Pontiac.

That was followed by stints at WKNR-AM in Dearborn and WDRQ-FM in Detroit, before joining the WJR news staff in Detroit, where he covered the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, among other stories in his three years as a reporter. He was eventually named as the main substitute for legendary WJR morning host J.P. McCarthy.

Inducted into both the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Beckmann was well-read, scrupulously prepared and generous, said friends and colleagues. With his microphone as his pulpit and his namesake March of Dimes celebrity golf outing as a primary tool, he helped raise millions of dollars for charities.

Politically conservative and occasionally testy, he could be dismissive with talk show guests on such hot-button subjects as climate change. One memorable morning in May 2011, he sparred on-air with fellow WJR voice Mitch Albom for 30 minutes over Albom's support for Michigan's film tax credits. But he was gentle with amateurs promoting an event or simply dialing in to voice an opinion.

"He knew how to press the professionals so they didn’t dissemble or reflect," said Guy Gordon, the afternoon talk host on WJR. "He would nurse the novices through their nervousness."

Gordon called Beckmann "the Swiss Army knife of broadcasters," with the equanimity to moderate a panel discussion, the focus and spontaneity to handle play-by-play, and the sharpened instincts of a reporter.