STURGIS, S.D. – One of the first voices to grace the airwaves of KBHB, Ray Ricci, has passed away. The broadcasting legend passed away Wednesday night in Minnesota.
Ricci joined KBHB in its early days, the early 1960’s.
Ricci had said he was called by owner Les Kleven to join KBHB, which began at 1280 on the AM dial, and he spoke about that when KBHB was celebrated during Sturgis History Days in June of 2017.
“I got a call asking ‘do you know where Sturgis, South Dakota is.’ I said I’ve heard of it, but never been there,” Ricci said. “I loaded my stuff and got into Sturgis about five o’clock one afternoon and walked into the station. Margueritte Kleven was sitting at the front desk and asked if I was Ray Ricci, and I said I am. She said they’re waiting for you.”
The rest is history, as Ray jumped on board and became among the first announcers to fill the airwaves of KBHB.
After his many years with KBHB Ray Ricci managed radio stations in Gillette and Bemidji and elsewhere. Ricci even worked in Russia, after the owner of the Gillette station where he worked opened up a radio station in that country after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Long time friend and co-worker Dana Caldwell remembers Ricci fondly.
“He had a great on air personality and presence. And later on, he did a lot of work in sales and just general P.R. We used to cover a lot of things from rodeos and parades. Ray was always helpful with those.”
Caldwell says Ricci was so unique in his ways.
“Everybody just seemed to love him. He would sure share a laugh with you and was so outgoing, he never met a stranger, and was so universally well liked. He was just so much fun to work with. Back in those days, we had a small staff and people like Ray did just about everything.”
Sturgis resident Doreen Creed also remembers Ricci. She worked in the newspaper business when Ricci was working for KBHB.
“Even though Ray and I were in competing media, we had a great relationship,” Creed recalled.
“He called me Lois Lane. I was young and inexperienced. He was seasoned. I will never forget when, then, attorney general Bill Janklow called a public meeting in Sturgis after he read my story about the formation of the posse comitatus, which was was also during the time of AIM activities. There wasn’t even standing in the basement of the courthouse that night. People lined up all the way up the staircase and out the door. A couple of Wyoming men decided they were going to take me to task before officials arrived. Out of nowhere Ray came and stood between those men and me. He told them in his booming voice what would happen next. That ended that.”
Creed also mentioned that Ricci had announced her wedding plans on KBHB. Problem was, according to Creed, “it was before I had. It caused a slight problem because he had the wrong groom.”
Homeslice Media CEO Dean Kinney says Ray had a certain charm about him.
“He almost had an Elvis like charisma about him,” Kinney recalled. “When he was in a room, people were just attracted to him because he was such a story teller.”
When he wasn’t doing radio, Ricci was also instrumental in announcing at the short track and half mile in Sturgis for many years. Kinney remembers that.
“I first became of a fan of Ray Ricci not necessarily on the radio, but because I was huge flat track fan, and I remember going to those races and hearing Ray announcing. He could bring a race to life and make it feel so dramatic and all the riders seemed like stars. He just had a gift for that.”
Kinney says Ricci’s friendship over the years will always be something he treasures.
Ray’s two sons Mark and Randy, still work in radio, following in their father’s footsteps. Mark is in Minnesota and Randy works in Texas.
A celebration of life for Ray Ricci will be held at the Eagles Club in Bemidji at a later date.
We’ll have more on the loss of Ray Ricci in the coming days.
