KETTER MICHAEL L.
On Sunday, May 17, 2009, Michael L. Ketter, 48, of Pittsburgh. Beloved husband of Gina (Pitta) Ketter. Son of the late Robert Ketter and Lorelei Ketter. Brother of Kay Nottis, Sue White and Mary Ketter-Franklin. Daddy of Merlin, Zoron, and Putt-Putt. Michael was a much-loved Program Director and on-air radio personality with WBCQ international short-wave radio station. In the 1990s he was Operations Manager and on-air broadcaster for WYEP-FM. Michael was a professional photographer as well as composer of electronic music. No visitation. Private services to be held in western New York. Family suggests memorial contributions to Forbes Hospice, 115 S. Neville Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Arrangements by STATHERS FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES INC., 7400 Irvine Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218, 412-271-7030. (http://www.stathersfuneral.com)
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Michael's obit
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Re: Michael's obit
by cosmikdebris » Sun May 24, 2009 10:43 am
Obituary: Michael L. Ketter / Former WYEP operations manager, WBCQ director
Aug. 3, 1960 - May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
By Elham Khatami, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By age 16, Michael Ketter already had compiled an impressive photography portfolio while working as official interview photographer for public radio station WBFO-FM in Buffalo, N.Y.
Over the next three decades, the multitalented man would also become a radio personality and engineer, musician, composer, and owner of an art gallery called Eyes in Wilkinsburg.
"He was a true Renaissance man," said Allan Weiner, owner of WBCQ, an international shortwave radio station in Maine at which Mr. Ketter was a broadcaster and program director. "He dabbled in all the arts and was a master in all."
Mr. Ketter died last Sunday of an anoxic brain injury. He was 48.
Mr. Ketter could boast of having created at least eight shows on WBCQ, centering on everything from music to the politics of the day.
"He was so bright and so talented and such a sweet man," said Mr. Ketter's wife, Regina.
Mr. Ketter was born and raised in Buffalo. After graduating from high school, he moved to New York City, where he worked at Olden Camera Co. and immersed himself in the fast-paced world of fashion photography.
In 1979, Mr. Ketter moved to Pittsburgh to attend The Art Institute and played in several punk rock bands in the early 1980s.
A mutual friend and a mutual interest in music brought him together with his wife, then a music student at Duquesne University.
"It was a kind of love-at-first-sight thing," said Ms. Ketter. "A little light bulb went off in my head and I just knew it."
They married in 1983. In 1987, when radio station WYEP-FM received a grant to come back to the airwaves, Mr. Ketter worked to help the station begin anew. He worked as a studio engineer, designing the studio, selecting and purchasing necessary equipment and training staff. Mr. Ketter served as operations manager through the 1990s.
"Michael could pretty much figure out any issue that came up technically," said Rosemary Welsch, Afternoon Mix host and producer at WYEP. "He was really into the mechanics of things but he was also a very spiritual person ... very calm, very centered, very focused."
After leaving WYEP, Mr. Ketter worked as an audio engineer at various non-commercial stations in Pittsburgh, where he had the opportunity to meet many artists.
"His knowledge of music helped him in that way to know exactly what musicians needed of him," said Ms. Welsch.
Mr. Ketter soon became affiliated with WBCQ, working from his Pittsburgh home. Under the name Brother X, he produced his own shows and bought time on the station to broadcast them. Listeners began tuning in and Mr. Ketter's popularity grew among WBCQ fans, leading him to become the station's program director in 2001.
"He was one of the best radio people I've ever met in my life and I have been in broadcasting almost 40 years," said Mr. Weiner, the station's owner.
Tim Smith, WBCQ station engineer and a close friend, said he and Mr. Ketter went back and forth between Pittsburgh and Maine, where Mr. Smith lives, to visit one another with their families.
"He always had a twinkle in his eye and a smile," he said. "He exuded light."
In 2005, Mr. Ketter suffered a severe heart attack while driving, which left him in a coma for more than three years.
"It puts closure to things but it saddens all of us deeply," Mr. Smith said. "He died too young. He had a lot left in him and a lot to give."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Ketter is survived by three sisters, Kay Nottis from Lewisburg, Union County; and Sue White and Mary Ketter-Franklin, both from Buffalo, N.Y.
Services will be private.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Forbes Hospice, 115 S. Neville St., Pittsburgh 15213.
Elham Khatami can be reached at ekhatami@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1478.
First published on May 24, 2009 at 12:00 am
source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09144/972417-122.stm
Aug. 3, 1960 - May 17, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
By Elham Khatami, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By age 16, Michael Ketter already had compiled an impressive photography portfolio while working as official interview photographer for public radio station WBFO-FM in Buffalo, N.Y.
Over the next three decades, the multitalented man would also become a radio personality and engineer, musician, composer, and owner of an art gallery called Eyes in Wilkinsburg.
"He was a true Renaissance man," said Allan Weiner, owner of WBCQ, an international shortwave radio station in Maine at which Mr. Ketter was a broadcaster and program director. "He dabbled in all the arts and was a master in all."
Mr. Ketter died last Sunday of an anoxic brain injury. He was 48.
Mr. Ketter could boast of having created at least eight shows on WBCQ, centering on everything from music to the politics of the day.
"He was so bright and so talented and such a sweet man," said Mr. Ketter's wife, Regina.
Mr. Ketter was born and raised in Buffalo. After graduating from high school, he moved to New York City, where he worked at Olden Camera Co. and immersed himself in the fast-paced world of fashion photography.
In 1979, Mr. Ketter moved to Pittsburgh to attend The Art Institute and played in several punk rock bands in the early 1980s.
A mutual friend and a mutual interest in music brought him together with his wife, then a music student at Duquesne University.
"It was a kind of love-at-first-sight thing," said Ms. Ketter. "A little light bulb went off in my head and I just knew it."
They married in 1983. In 1987, when radio station WYEP-FM received a grant to come back to the airwaves, Mr. Ketter worked to help the station begin anew. He worked as a studio engineer, designing the studio, selecting and purchasing necessary equipment and training staff. Mr. Ketter served as operations manager through the 1990s.
"Michael could pretty much figure out any issue that came up technically," said Rosemary Welsch, Afternoon Mix host and producer at WYEP. "He was really into the mechanics of things but he was also a very spiritual person ... very calm, very centered, very focused."
After leaving WYEP, Mr. Ketter worked as an audio engineer at various non-commercial stations in Pittsburgh, where he had the opportunity to meet many artists.
"His knowledge of music helped him in that way to know exactly what musicians needed of him," said Ms. Welsch.
Mr. Ketter soon became affiliated with WBCQ, working from his Pittsburgh home. Under the name Brother X, he produced his own shows and bought time on the station to broadcast them. Listeners began tuning in and Mr. Ketter's popularity grew among WBCQ fans, leading him to become the station's program director in 2001.
"He was one of the best radio people I've ever met in my life and I have been in broadcasting almost 40 years," said Mr. Weiner, the station's owner.
Tim Smith, WBCQ station engineer and a close friend, said he and Mr. Ketter went back and forth between Pittsburgh and Maine, where Mr. Smith lives, to visit one another with their families.
"He always had a twinkle in his eye and a smile," he said. "He exuded light."
In 2005, Mr. Ketter suffered a severe heart attack while driving, which left him in a coma for more than three years.
"It puts closure to things but it saddens all of us deeply," Mr. Smith said. "He died too young. He had a lot left in him and a lot to give."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Ketter is survived by three sisters, Kay Nottis from Lewisburg, Union County; and Sue White and Mary Ketter-Franklin, both from Buffalo, N.Y.
Services will be private.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Forbes Hospice, 115 S. Neville St., Pittsburgh 15213.
Elham Khatami can be reached at ekhatami@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1478.
First published on May 24, 2009 at 12:00 am
source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09144/972417-122.stm
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