HEINZ, Al
HEINZ, SHERWIN, FLOYD, BROWN, FLEMING, FRENZ
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 12/7/2013 at 16:50:23
Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
May 18, 2009, by Dick JohnsonDo-it-all Al Heinz still in Mason City
MASON CITY — In May of 1954, during a test pattern, program director Doug Sherwin spoke the first words on what was then KGLO-TV.
The second voice on air was that of Al Heinz, farm director, news-and-weather guy, and, in those simpler days of live TV, cowboy on the “Triangle 3 Ranch” show.
Heinz is 86 now and still in Mason City. His big, friendly radio voice still booms strong.
“I’m enjoying retirement,” he said. “But I miss all the contacts with the people of North Iowa and southern Minnesota. I had a lot of contacts.”
“What an outstanding ambassador for the business,” said Tim Fleming, a KGLO broadcaster since 1977. “You’ve got to go a long, long way to find somebody who can top Al Heinz.”
“He’s a genuine person who was always looking out for what his listeners needed and wanted,” former KGLO broadcaster Chris Frenz said. “He’s just a fantastic guy and always has been.”
As a young man, Heinz took a train from Lincoln, Neb., to see his folks in Mason City, and was impressed with the area.
He joined KGLO radio in the fall of 1943 and stayed through 1998. He declined several big-city job offers.
“I liked it here because I could work with the farmers,” he said. “In two minutes you can be out of town. The big city, what are you going to do?”
Heinz and “Yodelin’ ” Tommy Floyd donned cowboy suits, sang and played music on weekdays for the western-themed “Triangle 3” show, which led to KGLO TV’s long-running kids’ show, “Bart’s Clubhouse.”
Heinz also emceed a square dance show, sponsored by John Deere dealers.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said, “and everybody took part in it. It was interesting to go to work and meet people and put on a show.”
As farm director Heinz visited President Eisenhower in the White House, had a one-on-one interview with President Nixon, met young Sen. John F. Kennedy at a national corn-husking contest, and covered county fairs, North Iowa Band Festival parades and plowing contests.
On KGLO radio he and the late Bob Brown bantered for years on the “Al & Bob Show” (Heinz called it the “Bob & Al Show”).
“I met people and went places that you normally wouldn’t,” he said. “Press is a great avenue, I think. You’re first in line for everything new. And that’s what makes it interesting.
“No matter where you went, you felt like you were doing something, providing a service.”
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Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
January 25, 2010, by Richard JohnsonLongtime KGLO farm director Al Heinz dies
MASON CITY — Years ago, Tim Fleming said, KGLO radio staffers who needed information on virtually anything turned to Farm Director Al Heinz.
“He knew what was going on in town, and he knew what was going on in the area,” said Fleming, a KGLO broadcaster since 1977. “He knew exactly what the farmers needed to know on the air. He was clued into everything they needed.”
Heinz, 87, a popular broadcaster who worked at KGLO from 1943 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1998, died in his sleep Sunday at his winter home in Weslaco, Texas.
He interviewed celebrities including Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, and covered county fairs, North Iowa Band Festival parades and plowing contests, gaining fans with his friendly, resonant bass voice.
He and the late Bob Brown bantered for years on KGLO’s “Al & Bob Show,” which Heinz called the “Bob & Al Show.”
“His stories always focused around local people: ‘Joe Farmer,’ who happened to live down in Rockwell,” former KGLO broadcaster Chris Frenz said. “Even though he had those grander people that he spoke with, he was much more involved with what was going on locally.
“He had legions of friends who would always listen to him,” Frenz said. “They relied on him for everything. He went with that, really took it for what it was worth.”
Heinz’ son, Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board Director Fred Heinz, said his father was a family man who enjoyed radio work and meeting the people. He also loved the land — he started KGLO’s Farm Department in 1947 — and stressed hard work and “giving back” to society.
Al was a lifelong learner, Fred said, though he never attended college.
“He kind of was the personification of what’s good about humanity, to me,” Fred said. “He was always very interested, very concerned about other people, always willing to discuss things and share viewpoints.”
Said Fleming: “He was a friend to everyone, and that’s pretty special.”
Al was born on October 8, 1922 and passed away on Sunday, January 24, 2010.
Memorial services will be held 2:30 PM Sunday, February 7, 2010 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Avenue with Pastor Kathy Graves officiating. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the church.
Memorials may be given to Lime Creek Nature Center, Trinity Lutheran Church, or Hospice of North Iowa.
Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2013
Cerro Gordo Obituaries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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