Tom Daren-The Loss of a GREAT one!

[DOGDOG]

Tom Daren has passed. Many of you will remember him from his days at 3WS in Pittsburgh but he also spent time at Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa and even Paris! His last broadcast stint at Disney World in Orlando. I knew Tom in his early days at WJAC-AM-FM-TV in Johnstown, Pa, just east of Pittsburgh. He was in the market for several years by then and I believe he managed a station for a while in the small Pennsylvania town of Portage, Pa prior to WJAC. Tom first did afternoon drive at WJAC and was then promoted to PD and hung out during the mid-day time part. At the time, he used a closing theme song, "Leap Frog", an updated, more modern version than from the so-called big band days. Tom also worked downstairs in TV land at WJAC-TV doing weekend news and weather. As a PD, Tom was not only a supervisor but also an educator for those with less experienced. I remember being in the studio doing some engineering duties as he was having a conversation with the late Jerry Allen from the Cleveland area who was doing early evening. Tom eventually met up with another "Tom", Tom Kennington and ended up at Disney World handling their radio studios there. If you remember another great, Bruce Williams, Bruce used to make reference to "The Two Toms" at Disney World and they were Daren and Kennington! Tom donated his time in the Orlando area to Orange County Animal Services, walking dogs and assisting with adoptions. There will be a Memorial Service 5-13-25, which would be the 84th anniversary of Tom's birthday in Orlando. I'm not going to plug the funeral home, just enter "Tom Daren" in a search engine.

 

[radiofan2023]

Tom Daren has passed. Many of you will remember him from his days at 3WS in Pittsburgh but he also spent time at Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa and even Paris! His last broadcast stint at Disney World in Orlando. I knew Tom in his early days at WJAC-AM-FM-TV in Johnstown, Pa, just east of Pittsburgh. He was in the market for several years by then and I believe he managed a station for a while in the small Pennsylvania town of Portage, Pa prior to WJAC. Tom first did afternoon drive at WJAC and was then promoted to PD and hung out during the mid-day time part. At the time, he used a closing theme song, "Leap Frog", an updated, more modern version than from the so-called big band days. Tom also worked downstairs in TV land at WJAC-TV doing weekend news and weather. As a PD, Tom was not only a supervisor but also an educator for those with less experienced. I remember being in the studio doing some engineering duties as he was having a conversation with the late Jerry Allen from the Cleveland area who was doing early evening. Tom eventually met up with another "Tom", Tom Kennington and ended up at Disney World handling their radio studios there. If you remember another great, Bruce Williams, Bruce used to make reference to "The Two Toms" at Disney World and they were Daren and Kennington! Tom donated his time in the Orlando area to Orange County Animal Services, walking dogs and assisting with adoptions. There will be a Memorial Service 5-13-25, which would be the 84th anniversary of Tom's birthday in Orlando. I'm not going to plug the funeral home, just enter "Tom Daren" in a search engine.

If you don't post the link to give people more info about his service, not everyone is going to bother going to Google and sifting through search results to find it. It's not "plugging the funeral home" to give people info about someone's memorial service.

 

[DOGDOG]

If you don't post the link to give people more info about his service, not everyone is going to bother going to Google and sifting through search results to find it. It's not "plugging the funeral home" to give people info about someone's memorial service.

Out of respect for the moderators of the Forum, I chose not to post a link as some Moderators do not permit that. If a Moderator gives me the OK, I will do so.

 

[DOGDOG]

Tom Daren has passed. Many of you will remember him from his days at 3WS in Pittsburgh but he also spent time at Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa and even Paris! His last broadcast stint at Disney World in Orlando. I knew Tom in his early days at WJAC-AM-FM-TV in Johnstown, Pa, just east of Pittsburgh. He was in the market for several years by then and I believe he managed a station for a while in the small Pennsylvania town of Portage, Pa prior to WJAC. Tom first did afternoon drive at WJAC and was then promoted to PD and hung out during the mid-day time part. At the time, he used a closing theme song, "Leap Frog", an updated, more modern version than from the so-called big band days. Tom also worked downstairs in TV land at WJAC-TV doing weekend news and weather. As a PD, Tom was not only a supervisor but also an educator for those with less experienced. I remember being in the studio doing some engineering duties as he was having a conversation with the late Jerry Allen from the Cleveland area who was doing early evening. Tom eventually met up with another "Tom", Tom Kennington and ended up at Disney World handling their radio studios there. If you remember another great, Bruce Williams, Bruce used to make reference to "The Two Toms" at Disney World and they were Daren and Kennington! Tom donated his time in the Orlando area to Orange County Animal Services, walking dogs and assisting with adoptions. There will be a Memorial Service 5-13-25, which would be the 84th anniversary of Tom's birthday in Orlando. I'm not going to plug the funeral home, just enter "Tom Daren" in a search engine.

ADDENDUM: The well written obituary for Tom does include a number of pictures but not many from the stations he'd worked at. There are a few pictures with radio station patches and a studio picture with a very old console. Again. I have not posted the link out of respect to possible Moderator rules regarding links from outside sources. Just enter "Tom Daren" in a search engine and you'll find it.

 

[DOGDOG]

Tom Daren has passed. Many of you will remember him from his days at 3WS in Pittsburgh but he also spent time at Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa and even Paris! His last broadcast stint at Disney World in Orlando. I knew Tom in his early days at WJAC-AM-FM-TV in Johnstown, Pa, just east of Pittsburgh. He was in the market for several years by then and I believe he managed a station for a while in the small Pennsylvania town of Portage, Pa prior to WJAC. Tom first did afternoon drive at WJAC and was then promoted to PD and hung out during the mid-day time part. At the time, he used a closing theme song, "Leap Frog", an updated, more modern version than from the so-called big band days. Tom also worked downstairs in TV land at WJAC-TV doing weekend news and weather. As a PD, Tom was not only a supervisor but also an educator for those with less experienced. I remember being in the studio doing some engineering duties as he was having a conversation with the late Jerry Allen from the Cleveland area who was doing early evening. Tom eventually met up with another "Tom", Tom Kennington and ended up at Disney World handling their radio studios there. If you remember another great, Bruce Williams, Bruce used to make reference to "The Two Toms" at Disney World and they were Daren and Kennington! Tom donated his time in the Orlando area to Orange County Animal Services, walking dogs and assisting with adoptions. There will be a Memorial Service 5-13-25, which would be the 84th anniversary of Tom's birthday in Orlando. I'm not going to plug the funeral home, just enter "Tom Daren" in a search engine.

ADDENDUM-2 At WJAC we had an excellent studio engineer, Dick Lucas. I believe Dick also worked at several of the stations where Tom later went to. Perhaps someone could enlighten us as to the whereabouts of Dick if he is still with us.

 

[fybush]

Out of respect for the moderators of the Forum, I chose not to post a link as some Moderators do not permit that. If a Moderator gives me the OK, I will do so.

Why wouldn't we want you to post a link?

Yes, please do post it.