Jamestown native, Minnesota radio personality to be honored at concert

Apr. 27—JAMESTOWN — A Jamestown native and well-known radio personality in Minnesota will be honored during the Legends of Rock Concert on Saturday, April 27, at the Jamestown Civic Center.

Gov. Tim Walz honored the late Pat Ebertz by issuing a proclamation for Pat Ebertz Day on April 27 for Minnesota.

"I'm humbled and thankful," said Dr. Michael Ebertz, Pat's twin brother, who is the chairman of the Legends of Rock Concert.

Pat Ebertz worked at Jamestown radio stations KSJB and KSJM while he attended Jamestown High School. He also worked at Grand Forks FM radio stations XL93, KLITE and Magic 96 while attending the University of North Dakota and the UND School of Medicine.

Ebertz was also a well-known radio personality in the Minneapolis area. He was part of the KDWB "Dave and Ryan in the Morning" show for 10 years and an on-air personality and morning show producer.He also pursued a career in radio marketing and sales at Leighton Broadcasting in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Disney/KQRS in Minneapolis and most recently with Hubbard Broadcasting in Minneapolis with the "Tom Barnard Show."

Michael said the idea for a proclamation came from his longstanding personal and professional relationship with the Minnesota governor. He said Walz reached out to him after Pat passed away on Dec. 26, 2023, and wanted to honor the well-known radio personality for his service and charitable work.

"He said it's a loss for the whole Minnesota community," Michael said. "He said he wanted to do something more."

Michael said Pat was scheduled to be an emcee at the Legends of Rock Concert on Saturday. He said Pat was instrumental in organizing the event.The Legends of Rock Concert is a benefit concert for St. John's Academy. The concert will feature performances of four former singers and vocalists from the bands Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kansas and Boston.

Tickets may be purchased at the door for $45. Music will begin at 7:15 p.m. with an opening act from the Jamestown High School Jazz Band.

Michael plans to recognize his brother at the concert on Saturday by bringing Pat's kids — Isabelle, Johnny, Patrick and Christian — on stage to receive a plaque with the proclamation. Michael said a video with Walz will also be played at the event.

"Just letting all the people that are there as well as his kids know what a great person their father was and what a loss it is for all of us," he said.

Michael and Pat attended St. John's Academy. Their grandmother graduated from St. John's Academy and their parents graduated from the school in the 1940s when it still offered high school.

The twin brothers graduated from Jamestown High School in 1983 and the University of North Dakota. They were the first twins ever accepted to the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. Pat graduated with an undergraduate degree in psychology.

After attending medical school for two years, Pat pursued his passion of radio, Michael said. Pat went to Arizona before ending up in the Twin Cities where he remained for 30 years working primarily with radio. Michael said Pat also worked with TV and podcasts as well throughout the Twin Cities.

Pat also did charitable work to help others. He organized the delivery of food and supplies to Grand Forks flood victims in 1997 as part of the KDWB "Dave and Ryan in the Morning" show. He helped establish the KDWB Variety Family Center at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital campus. Pat and his co-workers with the morning show helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for those causes.