Seymour lost a pioneering voice Wednesday with the death of Bob Shippee, Bud’s dad.

Bob was considered by many to be the radio voice of the city, and it was distinctive, classic radio voice.

January Wetzel is typing Bob’s obituary this afternoon for Friday’s edition of The Tribune and for posting on TribTown.com. It will be an interesting read.

Would you like a tid bit or two to tease your interest?

Bob was a twin. In 1950 while working for radio station WJCD in Seymour, he interviewed conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton at the Stardust Drive-In on what was then probably in the country, near the U.S. 50 and U.S. 31 junction. Years earlier, Bob and his twin sister, Ruth, attended a twins gathering in Freeport, Ill., at the age of 2 years. Stars of the show that day were the Hiltons.

Just as his son Bud broadcasts ballgames of the Seymour Owls today, Bob became known as “The Voice of the Owls” over his years of broadcasting their games. They shared the broadcasting duties for the Owls for 14 years. Bob retired in 1990. Just as his was the first voice that aired on WJCD when the station powered up at 7 a.m. Nov. 4, 1949, Bob’s voice was the last to broadcast over WJCD when the station ceased operating under those call letters at 10 p.m. Feb. 14, 1990.

Like many people of his generation, Bob was a veteran of World War II, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater. Also like many of his generation, Bob was active in his church, First United Methodist, and in his community.

For years he broadcast horse shows and the queen pageant at the Jackson County Fair. But he also donated blood 106 times to the Jackson County Chapter of the American Red Cross, totaling 13.25 gallons. He also served on the Seymour Plan Commission and the Jackson County Plan Commission.

 It seemed like Bob always had a smile on his face when you’d run into him in the grocery store or at some event he was covering or taking a part in, just like he always seemed to have a smile on his voice when you’d hear him on the AM/FM frequencies. He’ll be missed in the community.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.