Bill Elledge

William Russell Elledge
(December 30, 1946 to March 11, 2009)

William R. Elledge, a longtime broadcast engineer and program host was found deceased at his home on March 13th, having succumbed after a hard-fought battle with cancer, during which he chose to continue with his duties at UC Riverside's radio station, KUCR. KUCR station manager Louis Vandenberg summoned UC Riverside police to Bill's home, after he failed to return phone calls and answer the door. Police entered the home to find Bill surrounded by his enormous collection of records, books, photos and audio/broadcasting gear. The Riverside County Coroner confirmed Bill's death by natural causes and said that he had likely passed sometime on March 11th.

Bill Elledge was a founder of KUCR radio at the University of California, Riverside in 1965 and was its Chief Engineer from 1968-2009. His radio program of classical music and commentary was acclaimed by its devoted fans and was on the air in the Inland Empire almost continuously from 1971 through late 2008. Mr. Elledge also did engineering work for other Inland Empire radio stations, including KOLA, KHNY and KPRO.

"Bll Elledge helped build KUCR from scratch and took possession of it as its Chief Engineer. With Bill, everything was done right, always. Every aspect of the station as it is today was built by him. Bill was, without a doubt, completely committed to KUCR. He was selfless with his time and boundless with love of the station, its mission and the UCR campus. He wasn't simply a superb and resourceful broadcast engineer. He was a wonderful original, with an unforgettable personality, profound intelligence and a deep knowledge of music, history, culture and politics. Bill was extremely articulate and would discuss all this and more at length on the air in his unique deep radio voice. That voice, very sadly, is now silenced. We at KUCR are very grateful for the gift that was Bill Elledge and will never forget his unparalleled contribution to KUCR, the UCR campus and our lives. May he rest in peace." --Louis Vandenberg, KUCR Director/General Manager 3/13/09.

At Bill's request, there was no funeral and no memorial service. There is a Bill Elledge Memorial guestbook at http://kucr.org/2009/04/29/bill-elledge-guestbook/ for those who knew or met Bill, to share thoughts and memories of him. A fund has been established in Bill Elledge's name to support a permanent memorial for his lifetime contribution to UC Riverside, KUCR and Inland Empire broadcasting. Donations by check may be made out to "UCR Foundation," with "Elledge Memorial Fund" on the memo line, and sent to: UCR Foundation, 120-A Highlander Hall, Riverside, CA 92521. Online donations at: https://advancementservices.ucr.edu/onlinegivingform.aspx?dept=25&p=09&div=145&d=1174&fund=200599