From Chad Colvin
Brodhead
To the editor:
The city of Monroe has lost yet another talent and visionary with the passing of Joseph Urban last week.
As a Monroe High School student, I was always interested in broadcasting - to the point that I took two years of courses in radio and television communications before graduating. I met Joe at a career fair there in May of 1995 at the tail end of my junior year, and I must have shown promise in his eyes because he took me under his wing and for the next two summers I interned at WEKZ with him and gained an immense amount of knowledge, not just in broadcasting but also in life experiences as he shared with me so many anecdotes and stories about his own career, family and more. Joe took my passion for radio and amplified it, sculpting and molding my talents and setting me on the career trajectory I ultimately took. In 2003, seven years after I finished my internship, it was those skills that Scott Thompson saw in me that ultimately made him decide to hire me as a regular employee.
It's now ten years later. I still work in radio, doing a job I love, and knowing what we do makes a difference in this community (from our focus on local and regional news to our enormous coverage of high school sports throughout the region) and working with people who are like a second family. It's an environment that Joe helped foster, and has never waned.
With Joe's passing, the community of Monroe and the residents of Green County may have lost a former local radio "celebrity," but I have lost an amazing mentor and a true friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Urban family during this difficult time.
And Joe - thank you. You will never know just how much of an impact you made in my life, and countless others.
Brodhead
To the editor:
The city of Monroe has lost yet another talent and visionary with the passing of Joseph Urban last week.
As a Monroe High School student, I was always interested in broadcasting - to the point that I took two years of courses in radio and television communications before graduating. I met Joe at a career fair there in May of 1995 at the tail end of my junior year, and I must have shown promise in his eyes because he took me under his wing and for the next two summers I interned at WEKZ with him and gained an immense amount of knowledge, not just in broadcasting but also in life experiences as he shared with me so many anecdotes and stories about his own career, family and more. Joe took my passion for radio and amplified it, sculpting and molding my talents and setting me on the career trajectory I ultimately took. In 2003, seven years after I finished my internship, it was those skills that Scott Thompson saw in me that ultimately made him decide to hire me as a regular employee.
It's now ten years later. I still work in radio, doing a job I love, and knowing what we do makes a difference in this community (from our focus on local and regional news to our enormous coverage of high school sports throughout the region) and working with people who are like a second family. It's an environment that Joe helped foster, and has never waned.
With Joe's passing, the community of Monroe and the residents of Green County may have lost a former local radio "celebrity," but I have lost an amazing mentor and a true friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Urban family during this difficult time.
And Joe - thank you. You will never know just how much of an impact you made in my life, and countless others.
