DEWITT DOES NOT HAVE A RADIO STATION.
NOR DOES TIPTON...OR ANAMOSA...OR MONTICELLO.
MAQUOKETA HAS A STATION, THANKS TO THE MAN ABOVE.
NATE GOETZ BUILDT KMAQ.
HE DIED WEDNESDAY AT THE AGE OF 92, IN NAPLES,
FLORIDA. THE PHOTO AT LEFT WAS TAKEN
IN 1958 AND THE ONE AT RIGHT IN 2012.
IT WAS SAD NEWS FOR ME YESTERDAY.
HE HIRED ME TO WORK AT HIS NEW MAQUOKETA
STATION BACK IN 1958.
THEN, HE WAS A 32 YEAR CITIZEN OF MONROE,
WISCONSIN, AND A HAM RADIO OPERATOR.
HE WANTED TO OWN A COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION, DID SOME RESEARCH, AND FOUND THAT
1320 WOULD WORK IN MAQUOKETA. HE GOT AN
OPTION ON SOME LAND FROM DELBERT JETTER
NORTHEAST OF MAQUOKETA ADJACENT TO THE
BRIDGEPORT CEMETERY. A LOCATION FOR THE
TOWER WAS NECESSARY WHEN MAKING AN APPLICATION TO THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FOR A NEW STATION. IT TOOK NEARLY TWO YEARS AND THE FCC GRANTED A CONTRUCTION PERMIT TO BUILD THE STATION IN
MAQUOKETA. NATE AND HIS BROTHER BOB, AND THEIR CPA, WERE PARTNERS, BUT NATE DID ALL THE
WORK OF BUILDING, GETTING THE STATION ON THE
AIR WITH HIS NEW MANAGER, BOB BROWN, AND
THEN MAKING WEEKLY TRIPS TO MAQUOKETA TO
HELP RUN THE STATION. THEN IT WAS ABOVE
WHERE THE MAQUOKETA CAFE IS NOW. G. L. AND
SON BOB STOCKHAM REMODLED THE UPSTAIRS
AND ON AUGUST 26TH, THE STATION SIGNED-ON.
NATE WOULD STAY OVERNIGHT TWO OR THREE
NIGHTS A WEEK AT THE DECKER AND HE AND I
HAD DINNER TOGETHER MANY TIMES AT THE FAMOUS DOWNTOWN GREEN MILL AND AT THE
POPULAR STEAK PLACE CALLED "THE SOUTH INN"
ON SOUTH MAIN STREET. THE PARTNERSHIP NEXT BUILDT A NEW FM IN FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN.
AND IN 1965, DECIDED TO SELL KMAQ AND BUY A
STATION IN MARSHFIELD, WISCONSIN. AND
NATE AND PARTNERS WANTED ME TO BUY THE
STATION FROM THEM, ON CONTRACT, AND I DID.
THE REST IS MORE HISTORY. WE DIDN'T SEE
MUCH OF EACH OTHER OVER THE YEARS, BUT KEPT
IN TOUCH WITH LETTERS, ON THE TELEPHONE AND
THEN LASTLY EMAIL. IRONICALLY, HIS BUSINESS
IN MONROE WAS THE THEATRE BUSINESS, A DRIVE-IN
AND DOWNTOWN THEATRE. HIS WIFE RUTH OF 63 YEARS DIED IN 2010 AND HE MARRIED MARY IN 2012
AND THEY LIVED FOR 5 YEARS IN A RETIREMENT HOME IN NAPLES. HIS ONLY CHILD WAS DAVE
GOETZ, RETIRED DOCTOR, AND HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE SURVIVORS.
SORRY FOR THE LONG STORY, BUT I FELT THIS NEEDED TO BE PART OF MAQUOKETA'S HISTORY....
THE STORY OF THE PERSON THAT BUILDT KMAQ.
AND AGAIN, HAD HE NOT, MAQUOKETA WOULD
NEVER HAVE HAD A RADIO STATION.
MY SYMPATHY TO DAVE AND FAMILY AND MY WISH
OF COURSE IS THAT NATE GOETZ WILL REST IN
PEACE.
1959 TO 1960 WHEN AFTER AN AUTO ACCIDENT WAS NOT ABLE TO COME BACK
TO WORK. I, WITH NATE'S HELP, MANAGED THE STATION UNTIL A NEW MANAGER WAS HIRED. THAT NEW MANAGER DID NOT WORK OUT AND I
THEN WAS NAMED MANAGER BY NATE IN 1960, AT THE AGE OF 21. THE FIRST
KMAQ MANAGER IN 1958 WAS BOB BROWN. AFTER A YEAR, HE WENT TO
MANAGER THE NEW FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN GOETZ STATION IN 1959 AND WILLEY TOOK HIS PLACE AT KMAQ.
DENNNIS VOY
