Former program director for WVLK radio Robert Lindsey has died
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Robert Lindsey, a longtime Lexington radio executive who made a midlife career switch to become a small business owner, died Wednesday at age 66.
He had battled cancer, an obituary on Milward Funeral Directors’ website stated.
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of a radio giant, former Cumulus Media Operations Manager Robert Lindsey,” a Facebook post on the page for K 92.9 WVLK-FM stated.
Born in Paducah, Lindsey started in the radio business as a 16-year-old, according to his obituary, working as a DJ and in production for five decades.
He spent nearly 20 years as program director for WVLK, where he oversaw the work of longtime Lexington radio personalities including Jack Pattie, Sue Wylie and David “Kruser” Krusenklaus, according to a 2009 Herald-Leader article that said he had “one of the most recognizable voices in Lexington radio.”
“His love for radio was not merely a career but a lifelong affair that ignited his soul and brought joy to others,” Lindsey’s obituary stated. “Robert’s voice may have fallen silent, but the echoes of his laughter, the warmth of his guidance, and the depth of his love will continue to be felt.”
In 2008, amid the Great Recession, Lindsey was among the employees laid off by his employer, Cumulus Broadcasting.
The following year, he told the Herald-Leader how he had made a career turnabout after months of job searching. He said it came about when he mentioned to his mechanic, Van Kirk, that he was thinking about buying a small business.
“Why don’t you just buy mine,” Kirk, then president of Auto Tech Service and Before You Buy Auto Inspections, asked.
Lindsey took over the company and said in the 2009 article that he was excited to come in to work every morning.
“You have to know that who you’re dealing with is above reproach,” he said at the time. “I still very much see it through a customer’s eyes.”
His obituary said Lindsey owned “a successful business for 12 years.”
Lindsey is survived by his wife, Sunny Lindsey, and two sons, Patrick and Jason, and their mother, Eileen, according to the obituary.
Services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Monday at Milward Funeral Directors on North Broadway.
