"This is 2WN, and the time is seven-thirty. Time for the latest news. I'm Bruce Etheredge."
The first words heard on ABC radio from its Wollongong studio, on March 6, 1959.
The first voice on ABC radio in Wollongong, Bruce Etheredge, has died aged 94.
Etheredge, a wine lover, avid tennis fan and former record store owner, died at Lawrence Hargrave Private Hospital.
He was a devoted and always entertaining father and grandfather, his family said, known to his great-grandchildren as "GG" and to many others in the community as "Bronco".
"I was always interested in radio," Etheredge said when appearing as an honoured guest at ABC Illawarra's 60th anniversary.
"I was working at 2GB just before I joined the Air Force".
After his military service, Etheredge was transferred by the Macquarie Network to Wollongong's 2WL, before he was offered the job at the new ABC Local Radio station 2WN.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.
"I used to have to read the news at seven-thirty in the morning, and then at five to seven at night. And in between, I'd go off and run my record store."
Bruce spent many happy years reading the news, before eventually moving to Saturday morning radio before retiring in 2002.
Along with his love of radio, he became an enthusiastic cheerleader for his adopted home town.
In one of his many post-retirement letters to the Illawarra Mercury, he wrote:
"When you turn on your computer, www stands for wonderful, wonderful Wollongong."
He is survived by his children Gail, Stephen and Janice, their partners Peter, Vanessa and Michael, and many beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
