KSER Volunteer Howard Winningham

For more than a decade every single thing you heard on the air at KSER was, in a way, scheduled by Howard Winningham.

Howard was one of more than 100 dedicated volunteers at our independent public radio station.  Many of them you hear on the air, but many more work behind the scenes.  Howard wanted to be a behind the scenes guy.  And he was. All the time.  Every single week, regardless of the weather...snow, rain, earthquakes...Howard Winningham showed up at KSER every single Saturday morning like clockwork to prepare our 'program logs', the schedule that we follow around the clock on the air.

Sadly, Howard died this week after a brief illness.  Howard was one of those people who lived alone and didn't care to do a lot of socializing with many of the other people at KSER. It was just his style.  But, a week ago, when he didn't show up for his regular volunteer shift and we tried to call him to make sure he was okay, he didn't return our calls. So, many of us are feeling pretty depressed that Howard was hospitalized and we didn't know.

Howard had a big laugh and a big personality and was a big man.  Even he told me once, "I'm too big, I need to lose some of this weight." But his over-sized frame was part of his character.

KSER's Ed Bremer worked with Howard a lot longer than I did and describes him this way:  Howard was an airplane mechanic working for Boeing and Goodrich at Paine Field. He never wanted to go on the air...he never wanted to have a show.  He was perfectly happy to sit at the station's front desk struggling with the computer, putting together our program schedule. He was smart, witty and just a really nice guy.

Remember KSER's Mad Mad Moscowitz?  Howard was his biggest fan.

His other great love was barbecue. And he was quite the expert, even starting his own business and a blog where you can still read Howard's advice on everything from the best grills to the best meats and recipes.

Howard Winningham was one of those people who was always there. Never missed a day, no matter what.  If Woody Allen is right that "90% of life is showing up," then Howard had a good life, because he always showed up.

Thanks, Howard...for all you did to help keep KSER special!