Longtime WJJW Engineer A. Paul Willey passed away at the age of 89 on Oct. 28 at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.
Willey spent 42 years as WJJW’s Engineer from 1971 until his retirement in 2013. Regarded as a kind man with an unmatched passion for radio, Willey was an instrumental figure in building WJJW into what it is today.
In 1971 WJJW was not FCC-licensed and could only broadcast to the vicinity of campus. In 1976, he assembled a group of students who installed our antenna on the campus center roof to accommodate our then-new 91.1 FM frequency. Over Willey’s time with the station, WJJW grew from 10-watts to 500-watts.
In 2013, Willey told The Beacon, “my biggest achievement has to be building a station the way I wanted. I have a craft that I could work forever, giving me the opportunity to work as long as I have.”
Willey’s career began in the 1960’s when radios were still battery powered. He graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont with a diploma in Radio, from there he went to the Massachusetts Radio School in Boston. Willey also helped build WCFM, the college radio station for Williams College. Despite many changes in technology throughout the years, he remained current in his knowledge, and remained one of WJJW’s best assets. In 2009, Willey was inducted into Radio Guide Magazine’s Hall of Achievement.
If you would like to learn more about Willey’s extraordinary life or to pay your respects, please click here to read his obituary from The Berkshire Eagle.
WJJW President Jake Vitali and Adviser Jim Niedbalski discuss Willey’s legacy: