Remembering Bruce Williams

• National Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster Bruce Williams died Saturday, February 9, at his home near Tampa, FL after a brief illness. He was 86. “Welcome my friends — welcome to my world.” — it was with those words that Williams began his nationally syndicated show for three decades. One of most unusual facts surrounding Williams; remarkable radio career is that it did not begin until he was well into his forties.

Williams grew up in East Orange, NJ, and after serving in the Air Force during the Korean conflict and graduating from Newark State College (now Kean University), Williams opened a pre-school named after his children. He also drove an ice cream truck, a beer truck and a taxi in New York City. Williams also sold insurance, owned a flower shop, a car rental agency, a barbershop and several nightclubs. There was even a whirlwind side trip into politics where the Honorable Bruce H. Williams was elected to the Franklin, NJ Township Council, and also served as Deputy Mayor and Mayor between 1967 and 1975. Best of all, for 70 of his 86 years, Williams celebrated the holiday season by selling Christmas trees in New Jersey.

Williams embarked on his broadcasting career in 1975 at WCTC-AM, “1450 Talk Radio, The Voice of Central New Jersey,” where he hosted At Your Service. That success took him to WMCA/New York, where his audience continued to build. Williams’ growing popularity brought him to the attention of radio executives at NBC, who were searching for a host of a national nightly advice-oriented talk show. Williams was hired and his program launched in November of 1981. Over the next three decades, Williams’ voice was heard coast-to-coast as he became one of the most-listened-to talk hosts in radio history. The industry recognized Williams’ accomplishments in 1999 when he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago.

Williams also wrote six financial and real estate advice books and a syndicated advice column called Smart Money. Bruce H. Williams was 81 years old when he hung up his headphones for the final time in 2013, signing off as he always did by saying, “Keep in touch.”