Clarke Ingram dies

November 25, 2023 Off By Eric O'Brien

*Editor’s note: A correction has been made. WPXY was initially named as WPXZ.

**Another Editor’s note: For a full tribute to Clarke, please see Scott Fybush’s tribute here.

Radio has lost a great friend in Clarke Ingram who passed away Saturday at the age of 66. Ingram had been battling multiple health issues for several years at the time of his death.

Clarke Ingram at the WKHB studios.

A Pittsburgh native, Mr. Ingram was a renouned program director in top-40 radio including stints at WXKX (96.1) during it’s 96KX days and WBZZ (93.7) when it was B-94. During his days at 96KX he would drive back and forth between Pittsburgh and Central PA working for some smaller market outfits.

He was a master at the microphone in addition to his programming duties. Outside of Pittsburgh he worked at WHTZ (“Z-100) in New York City, KZZP in Phoenix, Arizona, and WPXY in Rochester, New York.

Clarke eventually returned to Pittsburgh to care for his mother and, for a time, programmed “The Beat” WJJJ (104.7) for Chancellor Media Corporation which eventually became iHeart after a few different names. After 104.7’s “Jammin’ Oldies” began to wane, he made his way across the hall to WWSW (94.5) where he did some evening oldies programs still using the fast-talking, friendly style he was known for on air.

Mr. Ingram would often say, “I may be the only person who started out on FM radio and worked my way backward!” After being let go from 3-W-S, Clarke went to work at Broadcast Communications, Inc. where he programmed and imaged WKHB (620 Irwin) and WKFB (770 Jeannette). His voice can still be heard on those stations at least once per hour. After some time away due to his health, he would eventually image and create urban oldies programming for WZUM (1550 Braddock) for Ed DeHart.

His awards included landing at #38 of the “40 Top 40 DJs of All Time” by Decalcomania in 1995, and “Program Director of the Year” from a couple of respected broadcasting organizations. Ingram was also an authority on the defunct DuMont Television Network and maintained a very informative website on the subject.

Mr. Ingram was preceded in death by his mother, Alys Wild, who died in 2004. His beloved Golden Retriever, Brinkley – who started out as a companion for Wild – passed in 2014. He is survived by cousins and a whole host of friends in the radio business who admired and loved this gentle giant – one of the “nice guys” of the radio business.