| From the Obituaries section of
Charleston.net (April 7, 2009):
Ansley Davis Cohen, Jr., 85, of Mt Pleasant,
passed away on April 6, 2009. "Bubs," as he was known to most, was born in
Charleston on October 2, 1923, son of the late Ansley Davis and Irene
Nelson Cohen. Ansley, who served as a Marine Corps pilot during World War
II, was a member of the Charleston Rotary Club, Carolina Yacht Club,
Country Club of Charleston and St. Philip's Church. He enjoyed a lifelong
career in broadcasting and advertising. He graduated from The ABC School
of Radio in NY and worked at local radio and TV stations including WTMA
and WUSN (now WCBD) and was later owner of radio stations WNCG and WKTM.
Surviving are his wife of 61 years Mary Bargmann Cohen; sons, Ansley D.
III, Edwin Warren; daughter, Nancy C. Dudley and husband Bill;
grandchildren, Lindsay and Ashley Cohen and Will and Caroline Dudley. He
was preceded in death by sisters, Phyllis LaFar and Lucile Williams. The
family will receive friends at 24 Broughton Rd., The Crescent, Wednesday
6-8pm. Graveside services will be 11 AM Thursday at Magnolia Cemetery. In
lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Charleston
Foundation, 676 Wando Park Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 or to the charity
of one's choice. Arrangements by J HENRY STUHR, MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL.
Jerry Smith writes on April 8, 2009:
Ansley Cohen, Jr. was a "Prince of a Man"
to rob from his repertoire of classic descriptions he offered over the
years since I first met him in July 1969 on O'Hear Avenue (wonder where
that street name came from?). "Class Act" does not come close to
describing his tough, straight-shooter way of running a business and
tackling problems. And the hard part of saying goodbye this the true
gentleman is he was a caring and compassionate guy with true feelings for
people that he worked and played with over the years.
I imagine Ansley kept his son-in-law, Bill Dudley, on his toes taking care
of his favorite daughter the past 30 years. The broadcast community owes a
great deal of debt to ADC, Jr. for setting such high standards and virtues
taught to many of the great employees who passed through the doorways of
these great radio and TV stations and the hours of personal stories
associated with true success and happiness Ansley provided to all.
Thanks for letting me know of this dear friend's homegoing. We have been
praying for him and his extended families for many years. I have many
lifelong experiences and wonderful personal memories including my first
real fulltime radio management job in 1973 at the old WKTM-WNCG under ADC,
Jr. From the Letters to the
Editor in the Post & Courier on April 27, 2009:
Radio memories Last week,
radio broadcasting pioneer Ansley Cohen Jr. died. Few commonly know that
"Top 40" music broadcast in FM stereo in Charleston can be traced to his
daring experiment that began on March 1, 1973, when his low-powered,
3,000-watt FM station WKTM-102.5 FM forever changed radio history here in
the Lowcountry. It became the first full-time FM stereo radio station to
broadcast this popular music 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I was one of those young DJs, along with
Jerry Smith, Randy Scott, Bill Enloe and Mike Justin, who had the honor to
help make Mr. Cohen's dream come into reality. An innovative Web page
hosted by Charleston radio historian John Quincy of Citadel Broadcasting's
WTMA allows you to enjoy the dreams of Ansley Cohen by listening to
snippets of radio programs called "airchecks" and seeing pictures of the
antics of these young DJs promoting this broadcasting innovation here in
Charleston. While on the Web site,
enjoy the history of Harry Weaver's WOKE and Chuck Smith's "Tiger Radio"
WTMA. It was actually started as a Web site for WTMA memorabilia, hence
the Web page address: WTMAMemories.com. Please visit and you will lose
yourself in memories. Terrill Leff
Apollo Road
Charleston |
