Will John Stanley Obituary
William John Stanley, born June 22nd, 1948 to the late Watson and Bette Stanley, passed away on the weekend days before his 73rd birthday. He is survived by his wife Barb, of 29 years, his brother, Bob, and his sister, Judy Cash, as well as his Dad’s 2nd wife, Liz. He was also considered as Dad to Barb’s 4 children by previous marriage: Heather, Meredith, Allison and Greg. He was in such terrific physical condition that it was a complete shock when, after he played 3 hours of racquetball on the Friday, didn’t return Barb’s calls during the weekend. He was found on the Monday peacefully on the sofa where he had a stroke or aneurism while he was resting. No autopsy was performed. He lived in Rhinebeck, NY.
He led a very active lifestyle playing high level racquetball and pickle ball several times weekly for many hours. He also ate a very healthy diet, including multiple fruits daily, and he didn’t drink alcohol or smoke for over 50 years.
Will attended Shrine of the Little Flower Grade school, Royal Oak, MI, U. of Detroit. Jesuit High School (class of ’66), and Boston College. He spent his junior year overseas in Heidelberg, Germany before graduating from BC with a BA in Philosophy and Theology. He then returned back to Germany for the next 6 years as a linguist teaching English mainly to German business people in southern Germany. He then moved back to the states starting in Vermont near where he first started in the radio business beginning at the Dartmouth University radio station doing advertising in 1979. After a couple of years there he was able to become a part owner in several stations in the area, beginning in 1984. He became a full owner of WRSI (The River) in Northampton Massachusetts, which he managed from 1997 until 2004. WRSI had a format almost identical to his current station, WKZE, and Will and his wife, Barb, made it their goal to prove that this very eclectic and wildly diverse musical format could be a financial, as well as an esthetic, success. Since April of 2005, he and Barb, have owned and operated WKZE, and in April of 2006 moved the studios to Red Hook New York. His hobby is writing songs, which you can check out at willstanley.com. Will was a voracious reader and had more knowledge of more topics than anyone I ever met.
They purchased a 2nd home in Ocala, Florida, where Barb raised several horses and sold horse farms. Barb has returned to Red Hook, NY to continue Will’s legacy at the radio station.
