In Memorium

Larry Barron

(2/13/1965-12/23/20)

Everything was big with Larry…big smile, big hair, big laugh, big heart, big personality, big high school career, big college career, big career after college.

I was there when the big started, when Larry enrolled in my intro high school course entitled Fundamentals of Radio Broadcasting.

Larry was a sophomore at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School. He aced that course and would move on to my advanced course entitled WBFH Staff where students learn hands-on how to operate our non-commercial, educational FM radio station located at 88.1 on the FM dial.

In the five semesters he was on WBFH Staff, he co-hosted his own weekly radio show and did play-by-play of Lahser football and basketball games. He moved up the management ladder quickly serving as Promotions Director his junior year and Operations Manager (OM) his senior year. The OM is the top student manager at the radio station and Larry took his responsibility seriously. As soon as he entered the station, it was “what needs to be done” and “let’s get it done”. He caught the “broadcasting bug” and WBFH would be the launching pad for what would become an illustrious career in the media. He would make friendships that would last for 37 years after high school.

He had proud biological parents but I would be his “Radio Dad”, a position I hold dearly with all my students. Ric Blackwell has said that the best thing I created was the feeling of family among WBFH Staff members. What a great compliment and something I treasure.

I brag about all of my students and Larry made it easy: “Larry Barron is a Producer and Executive Producer of reality and game shows out in Los Angeles. He has his own company Larry Barron Entertainment! Let me show you a photo of Larry with the girl group TLC.”

I talked with him last February for over an hour, taking trips down Memory Lane and talking about his rubbing elbows with celebrities and honchos in the wacky world of entertainment. He kept thanking me for giving him his start in the “business” as well as many others. But, typical Larry, he wanted to know how I was doing in retirement, how Claudia and my boys were doing. And, typical Larry, he was thinking of ideas for what I might want to do while in retirement…things like creating a podcast or a YouTube channel and continuing to teach broadcasting on the “interweb” as I call it. From that phone call, we decided to do a Zoom call with his WBFH buddies Ric Blackwell and Rob Simpson. So, in June, we did a Zoom with just the four of us and it was so, so fun and one of the highlights of my year! When it ended, I told Larry we should do more of those and he agreed. What I didn’t know was that Zoom would be the last time I would talk to Larry.

When you lose a kid or a member of your family, it’s hard. I’m still in a state of shock and I’m coping with Larry’s death…but it’s hard. So Larry’s friends are having a BIG tribute today for someone who deserves it…and it’s only fitting!

— Pete Bowers, manager emeritus
 January 9, 2021

Remembering Larry Barron

Larry Barron (Lahser-83; Syracuse-87) passed away, suddenly, on December 24, 2020. Below is a remembrance penned by fellow WBFH alum Matt Friedman (Andover-90; Syracuse-94) that was originally posted on December 27, 2020 to Tanner-Friedman.com.

Matt Friedman
Founding Partner, Tanner-Friedman

I remember exactly where I was sitting the first time I heard what Larry Barron sounded like on the radio.

If the building was still standing now, more than 33 years later, I could take you through the door, around the corner and just down the hall and point to the exact spot where I was when the boom box played his “DJ tape.”

It was a pivotal, indelible moment.

I was 15 and after doing guest shows on WBFH-FM, the community radio station staffed largely by students, since I was 11, I was preparing to join the station’s regular staff. I had heard the name Larry Barron before, as we all had then. He was the station’s Operations Manager the year before I started and when previous OMs still got talked about, it meant they truly led by example.

Larry had sent home a tape of him at a new station called “Z89” in Syracuse. I would come to learn years later that he wasn’t just a DJ there – he led the effort to transform the student-run station to the FM band. When I heard the tape, it flipped a switch. That’s what I wanted to sound like. That’s what I needed to be like on the air – professional, natural, high-energy, entertaining.

The phone callers knew his name. It was clear they loved the station. It wasn’t just about talking into a microphone, it was about communicating with people. The bar was set. In an instant, Syracuse became a college of interest and Z89 (WJPZ-FM) was on my radar.

Three years later, when I joined the staff of WJPZ after serving as OM at WBFH, I heard more about Larry Barron. He was a legend at the two radio stations where my voice had been heard. Because he was the first of what would become 14 WBFH staffers to go on to study communications at Syracuse, I was expected by the older staff members at Z89 to live up to Larry’s standard, as did those in that chain who came before me.

Through years of attending the same events, I got to know Larry, starting when he started his post-radio career in television at CNN. I looked up to him like I would a much-older cousin. We didn’t have a day-to-day friendship, but I followed his career closely and marveled at his success, knowing he always had an interest in what I was doing.

Just the other day, I got the incredibly sad word that Larry died suddenly at his home in Los Angeles. This is news in the media business, as Larry became a legend everywhere he went, creating television that helped shape the industry. In a business with too few “good guys,” it’s obviously that those of us from WBFH and WJPZ are far from alone in realizing that he truly was one worth emulating.

Earlier this year, Larry and I spotted one another as squares in a private Zoom chat for alumni from Syracuse’s Newhouse School with fellow alums Mike Tirico and Ian Eagle. He sent me a note saying we should catch up soon. We should have, but we didn’t. I’ll always regret it.

While Larry provided a memorable moment in my career so many years ago, he’s now providing another. When someone important in my life suggests a time to catch up, I’ll get it scheduled right away, and won’t let it linger. I’m calling it “The Larry Barron Rule” and it’s now in effect. I invite you to join me in adopting it.

The legacy Larry created of a Michigan-to-Syracuse pipeline will be celebrated and appreciated. The photo accompanying this text is from moments after Larry was inducted into the WJPZ Hall of Fame in 2013 (he’s officially the Class of 2012 and only because of his work schedule were we not inducted together), as we took a photo in homage to our shared professional birthplace at WBFH and its onetime area code. That’s him on the far right. In the photo are three WJPZ past General Managers and two WJPZ Hall of Famers (and counting), all of whom who started as kids at WBFH. Larry blazed the trail for us and helped make fulfilling careers possible. His memory will always endure.

Claudia A. Bowers

June 30, 1954 — May 14, 2023

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The following memorial passage was supplied by the Bowers family...

Claudia A. Bowers, age 68, passed away peacefully Sunday, May 14, 2023, at home surrounded by her loving family. She attended Central Michigan University and Oakland Community College where she earned an Associate’s Degree in Nursing in 1983.

Claudia had a passion for helping others and dedicated 25+ years at numerous hospitals and schools working as a registered nurse (RN). She started her nursing career at Pontiac General Hospital then moved to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac in 1987. She worked at the Visiting Nurse Association and was the SCAMP Nurse in the summers of 1995-2005, a camp for special education students. She worked at Fox Hills Preschool as a Child Care Teacher; a kindergarten teacher’s aide at Eastover Elementary School; and a Teaching Assistant at Kensington Academy. She worked as the School Nurse at Detroit Country Day Junior School from 2004-2010, dealing with “crashes and rashes”. She was a Farm Guide at the Charles L. Bowers School Farm. She also worked as a Care Aide at Fox Hills Preschool. She did volunteer work with the Western Oakland County Meals on Wheels.

On August 11, 1978, Claudia married the love of her life, Pete Bowers, in Dearborn, MI. They spent 49 years together (45 married), enjoying a life well lived: viewing many Lake Michigan sunsets on the beach, exploring state parks, reading good books, and of course savvy shopping.

She was blessed with a green thumb and enjoyed spending time tending her flowers. Claudia was an animal lover, whether it was dogs, cats, or birds: you name it, she loved them all! She was also known for her famous holiday feasts and festive decorations. She had an eye for beautiful things, and made spaces and events special wherever she went. Claudia was also a social woman, blessed with the gift of gab, easily making and nurturing life-long friendships. She provided compassionate care for her mother over the course of many years, and was always willing to support anyone in need. Her vivacious and fun-loving spirit will be missed by the many who knew and loved her.

She is survived by her loving husband, Pete Bowers; sons, Adam (Sarah Bogue) Bowers and Eric (Cheryl Walton) Bowers; two brothers, Mark (Anne) Bogard and Jason (Laura) Bogard; niece, Kara Bogard (Fa and Belle); two nephews, Cameron Bogard and Jordan Bogard; brother- in-law, Jim Bowers; as well as extended family members and many dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at The Lee Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Service, 6291 S. Harvey St., Norton Shores, MI 49444 with visitation one-hour prior. Memorial Contributions in her honor can be directed to Charles L. Bowers School Farm or the Harbor Humane Society.