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A most common name. A most uncommon voice.
And Joe Smith’s voice was everything to him and his listeners.
Through it he told the stories of local high school and Indiana University athletics for over 50 years. Through it, listeners heard the passion he had and how much he enjoyed being there to describe some of the biggest moments of those young athletes’ lives.
From the black and white halcyon days of Bloomington High School sports in the late 1960s and early 70s to the cream and crimson glory days at IU and the color splashed days of 2026, Smith was there.
The airwaves on 98.7 The Zone, formerly WGCL, will no longer be the same with Smith’s passing announced by the station on Monday evening.
According to a story written by former H-T staffer Dustin Dopirak, Smith began his media career working for the Chicago Sun-Times in the back issues department, and then worked his way up to take charge of giving tours of the Sun-Times’ building. While he was there, he made friends with disc jockeys at Chicago’s WLS and WCFL and he got to spend time with them at the station. In 1969, he got his first radio job at WAIK Radio in Galesburg, Ill. as a news broadcaster.
Soon after, he was hired at WTTS in Bloomington.
According to his bio when he was inducted to the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, he was a broadcaster for over 50 years in Bloomington (WTTS, WGCL, WBWB, Channel 4), covering five Bloomington state champions (South football, 1993, 1998; South basketball, 2009, 2011; North basketball, 1997). For 16 years (1973-89) co-hosted RFD 4 on WTTV and working with Don Fischer, covered five IU basketball Final Fours (1973, 1976, 1981, 1987, 2002) and 11 IU bowl games.
He hosted popular community sports shows Sports Sunnyside Up, Mid-Day Sports, Balls and Strikes and Sportstalk and was a 2003 inductee into the Indiana Sportswriters, Sportscasters Hall of Fame. He was a charter member of the Monroe County Sports Hall Fame board and emcee for the annual awards banquet. He was named Indiana Sportscaster of the Year in 1998.
“‘Legendary’ doesn’t begin to describe Joe or his body of his work,” a statement from Brad Holtz, president of Sarkes Tarzian Radio said. “With nearly 50 years of service to Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. and 40 to Indiana University, Joe established himself as one of Indiana’s most respected and trustworthy broadcasters.
“He championed student athletes at the high school and collegiate level and approached his craft with a dedication to excellence that was simply second to none. Most importantly, Joe was a dedicated father to his children Jeff and Jamie, and to his six grandchildren, Jayden, Kaleb, Logan, Ethan, Emerson, and Carolina . He was a friend to many. And as a colleague, you couldn’t ask for a more professional, dedicated broadcaster. He inspired us to be our very best. There will never be another Joe Smith.”
In May of 2017, Smith was forced to take a year off from the job he loved after he tumbled backwards down 12 steps at his apartment complex, fracturing his C6 and C7 vertebrae. Smith spent 23 days in the hospital, undergoing two major spinal cord surgeries.
Smith came back as good as ever, just as promised.
“The accident changed me as a person, but it also made me feel how important each and every day is to be able to get up and go out and do a job,” Smith told then H-T reporter Mike Miller in a 2018 article. “I was blessed with a voice, and even though I’m 70 now, I think I can still communicate. I feel good about it and I’m raring to go.”
But in 2022, Smith announced it would be his last with IU broadcasts, his 40th, Fischer’s 50th.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington hall of fame radio announcer Joe Smith dies
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
