Remembering Andy Ockershausen
• Andrew Martin Ockershausen, longtime media executive whose career began in the golden days of radio and continued into the podcasting era, died Wednesday, March 17 in Annapolis, MD, just days after his 92nd birthday.
Ockershausen, known to friends and associates as “Andy O.,” is probably best known for his lengthy tenure at WMAL/Washington, hired in an entry-level position in 1949 and working his way up to GM just 11 years later. Andy O. managed the station for more than 25 years at a time that it dominated DC’s morning airwaves with the broadcast team of Frank Harden and Jackson Weaver. Ockershausen also handpicked the NFL broadcast team of Sonny Jurgensen, Sam Huff, and Frank Herzog — a trio so popular that Redskins fans would often mute their televisions and listen to the popular radio broadcast.
During his time at WMAL, Ockershausen also spearheaded a fundraising effort, which raised more than $7 million for Washington’s Children’s Hospital. He was also actively involved with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, the Salvation Army and the D.C. Police Boys and Girls Club. Ockershausen’s commitment to public service prompted Roll Call to credit him directly in a 1983 editorial, describing WMAL as “a station that is not only the eyes and ears of Washington, but its voice and heart as well.”
In addition to his long radio run, Ockershausen also spent two decades in Washington television with key management roles at WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV), WFTY-TV and Home Team Sports (now NBC Sports Washington).
Ockershausen has been married to Janice Iacona since 1993. In 2016 her media firm, Best Bark Communications began producing a series of over 200 podcasts titled Our Town which allowed Andy O. to share his eight-plus decades of memories with community leaders and other Washingtonians. Always an optimist, Ockershausen once reflected on his long career in broadcasting, saying, “Thank God I’m in this business. I love this city, I love this town, I love what I do.” In addition to his wife Janice, Ockershausen is survived by two sons, Kurt and Christian, and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
