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WIMG Mourns The Passing Of It's Pioneer
Johnny Morris
   
John J. Morris
WIMG 1300 AM
John J. (Johnny) Morris was founder and chairman of Morris
Broadcasting Company of New Jersey, Inc., the parent company of the
three-time Stellar Award winning gospel radio station, WIMG 1300 AM.
Raised in Torrington, Conn., Morris was always interested in
broadcasting and worked at a Connecticut radio station while still
in high school. He also worked in the control room of WNBC in New
York before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954 and joining the
Armed Forces Network (AFN). Morris was stationed at AFN’s studio in
Heidelberg, Germany for two years.
Following his military service, Morris was appointed as a civilian
at AFN to cover special events and campaigns throughout Europe.
During his seven years as AFN’s director of special events, Morris
conducted interviews and produced radio programs with some of the
biggest names in entertainment and politics, including Richard
Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan, Bob Hope,
Judy Garland, Jane Mansfield and Elvis Presley. In addition, he
joined two of Bob Hope’s famous USO tours with Les Brown and the
Band of Renown.
After nine years in Germany, Morris returned to the U.S. and in 1964
joined WHWH 1350 AM in Princeton as a sales manager. He played a key
role growing sales, launching WPST 97.5 FM and developing the
operation into Nassau Broadcasting Company, eventually becoming its
president.
In 1993, Morris established Morris Broadcasting Company of New
Jersey, Inc., and acquired the gospel station WIMG 1300 AM with his
wife, the late Louise Easton Morris, and his children, Michael and
Maggie.
Morris transformed WIMG into a viable resource for the greater
Trenton community through an urban gospel musical format, the
broadcasting of spiritual ministries and local and national news and
public affairs programming.
Morris served on the boards of numerous local civic and
philanthropic organizations, including Catholic Charities – Diocese
of Trenton; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton; New
Jersey Broadcaster’s Association; Mercer County Chamber of Commerce;
Boy Scouts of America – George Washington Council; Hamilton YMCA;
Rider University; and the Trenton Kiwanis Club.
He has contributed to many community-based initiatives in both the
public and private sector, including the restoration of the Trenton
Makes bridge and the Trenton War Memorial, the Mt. Carmel Guild
Family Food Fund, the Delaware Valley United Way, the Hamilton Elks,
the Hamilton Rotary, the Sons and Daughters of St. Patrick, the
Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce and the
American Heart Association. He has been honored by several business
and civic associations throughout central New Jersey, including the
Boy Scouts of America – George Washington Council’s Chairman’s Award
(1998) and Distinguished Citizen’s Award (1992), the Salvation
Army’s William Booth Award (1986), the Mercer County Chamber of
Commerce Citizen of the Year (1983), and the Trenton Kiwanis Man of
the Year (1976).
He died on September 28, 2017 at the age of 91. In addition to
Michael and Maggie, Morris is survived by two additional children,
Melissa and Matthew, and four grandchildren. He was a resident of
Hamilton Township. |
