Brian Jeffrey "Jeff" Hunt

Brian Jeffrey "Jeff" Hunt passed away at Carilion Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. He was born July 1, 1947, in Clearfield Pennsylvania, and graduated from Clearfield Area High School.

During his grade school years, Jeff spent time at the local radio station performing small tasks. By 10th grade, he was operating broadcast equipment for church broadcasts. He used those talents for public address announcements in school variety shows and other auditorium events. During the local county fair one year, Jeff interviewed everyone from the Lawrence Welk show except Welk himself.

After a couple of years studying English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, his 57-year career in broadcasting included Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he hosted a radio show for a college audience, WTBO, in Western Maryland, where he was honored for his journalism.

When Jeff arrived in Roanoke in 1970, he worked at the former WPVR-FM located in Hotel Roanoke. It's there that Jeff hired a yet-known, Adrian Cronauer, as an evening announcer. Jeff later spent seven years in Pennsylvania hosting a nightly call-in show. He eventually returned to Roanoke hosting the afternoon drive on WSLQ.

His next stop would be one of two lengthy stints at at WVTF Public Radio hosting a very popular jazz show in the 1990's. After a brief foray with Wisdom TV in Bluefield, West Virginia, Jeff returned to Roanoke, eventually coming back part-time to WVTF. He retired from radio in 2021.

Jeff is survived by Mike Morris, his partner of 39 years. He's also loved and appreciated by numerous colleagues in his many years in radio and TV, and friends from a weekly trivia group that played in Roanoke's Grandin Village. Jeff was a big Pittsburgh Pirates fan, and he and Mike never missed an episode of Jeopardy or American Idol.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Sunday, November 19, 2023, at WVTF, 3520 SW Kingsbury Lane, Roanoke VA 24014. Condolences may be sent to www.hamlar-curtis.com.