Remembering Jacque Skarr

• We received notes from several Bay Area radio vets who shared the sad news that one of their peers, Jacque Skarr, had passed away on Friday, March 15 after a five-month battle with cancer. It has taken us the better part of this week to pull together details of Skarr’s life and career, and special thanks go to Carolyn McArdle, APD/MD of KOSF & KISQ (98.1 The Breeze)/San Francisco and the co-host & Executive Producer of 98.1 The Morning Breeze, who was fortunate enough to have worked with Skarr at K101/San Francisco in 1993 and again at KKIQ/Pleasanton, CA from 2000-2004. She also went to school with Skarr’s son, Martin Hevezi. “Jacque was a co-worker who became a very good friend,” McArdle says.

Skarr’s radio resume was impressive, starting at KUIC/Vacaville, CA back in 1979. After a stint at the former KWUN in suburban Concord, Skarr spent the next decade in San Francisco radio, with stops at KSAN, KNEW, KYUU and overnights at KIOI (K101). During that phase of her career in the early ’80s, Skarr was also able to fit in some non-radio work, serving as the 10 O’Clock Movie hostess on KOFY-TV, a copywriter for William Woodbury and Associates and the occasional pre-game entertainment host at Oakland A’s games. Jacque is pictured here with her son Martin and daughter Jane Hevezi.

Between radio gigs in the 2000s, Skarr worked in administration at Kaiser Permanente in Martinez and for Contra Costa County Fire in Pleasant Hill — all that while raising four children as a single mother and balancing a radio career at the same time throughout the years.

McArdle remarked, “Jacque was that woman on the air that we all wished we could be — smart, sassy, not afraid to say what she was thinking. It got her in trouble a lot but it also made a name for her. She was proud of that. She was a trailblazer in that sense. Do you know how many women DJ’s (even now) wish that we could say what we REALLY want to say on the air? Jacque did that and we all wished we had the guts to do the same! She was an avid Scrabble player, a HUGE Giants fan and she LOVED radio. She bragged about her radio career until the day she passed. And she should have. She was darn good at it. She defined the true meaning of ‘air talent.'”