Courtesy Akron Beacon

(February 6, 2009) Former peers recalled Jerry Healey today as a ''go-getter'' whose talent on the radio put listeners at ease — or right in the middle of sports action.

Mr. Healey, a longtime voice at WAKR in Akron, died Tuesday in Duarte, Calif. He was 76.

A popular mainstay on morning radio during two stints at WAKR in the late 1960s and 1970s, Healey also was a sports broadcaster. In his career, he was the football voice of the University of Akron, Kent State, Ohio State, Illinois and California-Davis teams. In basketball, he broadcast for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves.

After relocating to Los Angeles, he was part of the original TranStar/UniStar team, at one time broadcasting American standards music to more than 200 markets. A show WAKR picked up for a few years allowed Akron-area listeners to hear him again on weekends.

Mr. Healey also created Golf with Sam Sneed, which ran on the ABC and NBC networks in the 1960s.

''If he had chosen to do only sports, he would have been renowned in sports, too,'' said Bill Aylward, formerly of the Akron Beacon Journal. ''He was a good basketball and football announcer. He didn't over-talk. He was objective.

''You could close your eyes and he would make you feel like you were right on the floor at the ballgame.''

Mr. Healey was born in Scranton, Pa., and began his career as a youngster in Philadelphia after a scout chose him for a children's serial radio show. He attended Syracuse University.

People who knew him described him not only as talented with a great sense of humor, but also as a dapper guy who was always well-dressed, kept himself in good shape and turned women's heads.

He was a people person and loved to entertain. He played the piano and harmonica.

''He was fun, energetic and liked for his listeners to have fun,'' said Joyce Lagios, promotions/marketing director at WAKR. ''People loved him. They loved his deep voice and his alter-ego characters 'Sam' and 'Serena.' They were his voice. They were his friends who said things he wouldn't dare say.''

Lagios said it was really a show with three people with the alter egos arguing back and forth. Mr. Healey sometimes would insert himself into the conversation.

''It was a very funny bit,'' said co-worker Bob Freund, who was on the air at a later time at WAKR. ''Jerry was extremely competent and creative, and a very friendly guy who was easy to work with. Everyone loved the guy, and his show was always rated No. 1 in the area.''

Lagios said Mr. Healey came to Akron to broadcast games for the short-lived Akron Vulcans pro football team. When the team quickly folded, he was hired by WAKR as the station's morning deejay.

''He was also the sports guy at the station,'' she said. ''He made a lot of personal appearances; people wanted him at their events. He was very well-liked.''

Aylward — a friend of Mr. Healey's for nearly 40 years because both were involved in community affairs — described him as a go-getter with tremendous talent.

''He was a quasi-genius,'' said Aylward. ''He was one of a kind. When Jerry came on the air, he was a breath of fresh air. I'd listen to him in the morning and he would cheer you up, and when I got to work, I had a different perspective on the day.''

Mr. Healey is survived by his wife of 35 years, Judi, a former Beacon Journal reporter; and daughters Kathryn of California, Gale Hoert of Middleburg Heights, Linda Evans of Macedonia and Jill Clarkson of California.

Funeral services will be Sunday at St. George's Episcopal Church in La Canada, Calif.