George Charles Hyde Jr.

George Charles Hyde, Jr, 78, of Lutz, Florida, passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, following a battle with cancer. George was born on November 28, 1947, in Providence, Rhode Island to George C. Hyde Sr. and Margaret (Peggy) Hyde. After graduating from Classical High School in Providence, where he was a National Merit scholar, George enrolled in Brown University at age 16. He had originally intended to study chemical engineering, but a summer job calling bingo numbers at Rocky Point amusement park in Warwick, RI changed all that. It was there that a member of the student radio station, WBRU-FM, discovered his booming voice, and that kicked off a long and distinguished career in broadcasting.

While at Brown in the 60’s, George worked his way up the ranks at “The Mighty 1290” WICE-AM in Providence. From on-air work to behind the scenes, George worked every function at WICE as it competed vigorously with the other AM Top 40 station in town, WPRO. In 1968, shortly before graduating from Brown, George met Kathy Fusco, a Rhode Island School of Design student, at a Fraternity party. They dated for several years before they married in 1971.

In 1972, George and Kathy relocated to York, PA as George was promoted to work in the corporate office of WICE’s parent company, Susquehanna Broadcasting. One of George’s main accomplishments at the Corporate office was engineering the format change of WFMS-FM, a struggling Indianapolis radio station, to Country - sparking a steady ratings and revenue turnaround that toppled the dominant AM Country station at the time. During this time, George also attained an MBA from York College of Pennsylvania. In 1974, Kathy & George’s son, Doug, was born.

In 1979, George engineered another turnaround at WLQA-FM in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was in Cincinnati that George devised a “Soft Rock” format called “Warm 98”, which proved to be an instant ratings and revenue success. In 1982, George undertook the biggest challenge of his career with Susquehanna, taking the General Manager position at Spanish-language WQBA-AM (“La Cubanisima”) and WQBA-FM (“Super Q”) in Miami. After a crash course in Spanish from Berlitz, George took the reins and established the two stations as the pulse of Miami’s Cuban community. During his tenure, the WQBA stations became the #1

revenue generating properties in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale radio market, a rare accomplishment for a Spanish-language operation at the time.

In 1989, George took his boundless enthusiasm and passion for the radio business to a new calling, as Executive Vice President of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), the industry’s premier trade and advocacy organization. During his time with RAB, George trained thousands of radio salespeople and served as a tireless advocate for the radio industry. George was a true road warrior, preaching the magic of radio to staffs both domestically and internationally. In particular, George worked extensively with emerging commercial radio stations in developing countries, including radio stations in Europe in the post-Cold war era.

After his retirement in 2009, George was active as a volunteer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) extension program at the University of South Florida. At OLLI he continued to feed his curiosity and appetite for knowledge by both taking and teaching classes on topics like political science, travel, and literature. Of course, his favorite moments at OLLI were when he used his decades of experience to teach about his favorite subject, radio. George also provided his support to the marketing and programming efforts at the OLLI USF chapter, and served as the Chairman of the OLLI Board of Advisors for several years. Shortly before his passing, George received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from OLLI.

George had a remarkable penchant for crossword puzzles, a talent he displayed by winning the North Florida Crossword Puzzle Tournament at the University of Florida three years in a row. He was also an avid reader and loved to engage in deep, thought provoking discussions about his favorite books. Another passion of George’s was travel, and he faithfully documented his many excursions with thousands of carefully curated pictures and slides. A rabid hockey fan, George never missed watching a Tampa Bay Lightning game, and he also faithfully cheered on the Brown Bears as well as his son’s alma mater, the University of Miami Hurricanes.

George is survived by his wife Kathleen, of Lutz, FL, his son Douglas, and daughter in-law Alexssa Todd, of Coral Gables, FL.

In lieu of flowers, donations in George’s name may be made to the University of South Florida Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (https://giving.usf.edu/online/gift/f/640004/) or the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation (https://www.nhl.com/lightning/community/partnerships).

A celebration of life for George will be held in the Tampa area soon. Details will be forthcoming.