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Rebecca St. John dead at 56
St. John had spent four decades in broadcast, starting out on the gulf coast of Florida doing morning shows. She worked her way across northern Florida, into Alabama and finally into north Georgia and western North Carolina, where she was on the air for more than 20 years, according to her daughter, Mikellah Makepeace. "She was delightful person and knew radio like the back of her hand," Clair Frazier, an owner of the radio network , said. "She did a fantastic job. She cared about the stations as if they were her own children. She'll be greatly missed. A.D. Frazier, chairman of Wolf Creek Broadcasting, called her a "radio icon in the north Georgia Mountains." "A lot of the people who work for us were tutored by Rebecca," he said. "Her influence was felt by our staff for years, well before we got into the business. She was such a dynamic personality and cared so much about the company and the region. You won't find a booster who cared more about the north Georgia Mountains than Rebecca St. John," he said. Garland Johnson, an afternoon DJ with the company said he had known and worked off and on with St. John for 15 years, including stations in Blue Ridge, Murphy and Young Harris. "She taught me everything in radio I know," he said. " I considered her my mentor. She was very patient." Johnson recalled an instance when he played a Hank Williams, Jr. selection that was perhaps too suggestive with a few cuss words thrown in. Before the song was over, he said he got a call from St. John. "I trust you have marked that song a no play," he said she told him. He got the message. "She was always so nice. So patient," Johnson said. "She liked rock 'n roll. She could always make me laugh. I will miss that laugh of hers." Michael Miracle, news director and a producer for the network, said while he had only known St. John since last September, he found her full of life. "She had the biggest heart of anyone I have eve met," he said. "She was really genuine and would always do whatever she could to help out anybody." Sammy Ensley, program director for the network said he had known St. John since 1997 when she hired him to work at WCZM. "All in all, she hired me three times," he said. "Four and a half years ago, she called and asked me if I wanted a job with this company. She's been my only mentor, more of a friend to me than an actual boss." About the frequent job changing of radio people, he said she told him, 'radio is good migrant work.'" Rebecca St. John is survived by her three daughters, Shelley Curle St. John, Mikellah Davis Makepeace and McKenzie Davis Payne, as well as five grandchildren and numerous other family members and friends which she considered one and the same. Known as "Rockin' Rebecca" she leaves a legacy of a voice that made her a local celebrity as well as her excellent taste in music that she shared with listeners for many years. She always said that she did it because she loved music and held dear to her heart that she was helping create the 'soundtracks' for people's everyday lives, Makepeace said. In an on-air memorial, A.D. Frazier called her, "A gritty and tough-minded woman who made her own way in the proud tradition of the gutsy independent mountain folk who are fore bearers to us all. Overcoming adversity and taking life as it comes, no complaints, no excuses." "Rebecca's children and grandchildren are a living testament to her honesty and integrity and to her loving and giving spirit, but Rebecca's extended family reaches far beyond those who share her name," Frazier said. "For many of those who staff our radio station community, they were birthed into this business under her nurturing care." Arrangements are being handled by Mountain View Funeral Home in Blairsville. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 15 at 4 p.m. The family will receive friends that evening.
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