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WPGM Engineer
John
Rejmer
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In
January 1991 I made a promise.
It was my
privilege to know John Rejmer -
and when he went to be
with the Lord, I promised that future staff members and new
"radio family" listeners would have that
privilege too.
In 1964, WPGM AM
was located on the
second floor of the First National Bank
building at the corner of Mill and Walnut Street in Danville. John
was the Chief
Engineer - which meant that he hand-made a lot of the equipment and was
responsible for wiring and making all of the studio gear
operational.
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In
1968, John
wanted to extend the
ministry of WPGM to the FM radio band - so
he made a presentation to our Board of Directors and said he
could do the job
for $10,000. And he did. The tower, the fees, the transmitter site and
building
and equipment - John managed under the leadership of God to get it done
for less
than $10,000! (Where would WPGM be today without the FM station? The
answer to
that question lets us know what we owe John Rejmer!)
In 1974, John carried all
the equipment down the
stairs when the bank needed
that second floor to expand their work - and the radio station moved to
its
present location at 8 East Market Street. He not only got everything
re-installed, he even managed to cut our expenses by putting in a
"station-transmitter link" to get our programming from the studios to
the transmitter.
In 1985, he was given the
challenge of making it
possible for WPGM FM to stay
on the air 24 hours a day. Before the equipment to make it possible
arrived,
John got anxious and actually combined a series of timers and light
bulbs
(yes...light bulbs...) to our existing components and we started
broadcasting
around the clock.
But those facts only
represent his resume. It
doesn't really tell you who he
was. John was a soft-spoken man of few words. He had a perpetual smile
and a
gentle laugh. He was active in his church, teaching the fifth-grade
Sunday
School Class for many years. I met a physicians assistant not long ago
and the
subject turned to John, and the man said to me, "...all in all....John
Rejmer was the nicest man I ever knew." It was not an unusual
observation,
but one shared by just about everyone who met John.
In September 1989 we learned
that John had cancer.
Over the next year and a
half, John lived with the disease with the same style and grace with
which he
did everything else. After a brave and courageous fight, John died on
January
21st 1991. He left his wife Debbie, with whom he operated a business in
Riverside. He left a son Andy and a daughter Abby. He left us too -
along with a
host of other friends who loved him and still miss him.
If you appreciate
WPGM,
perhaps when you pray
tonight you might tell the Lord
that you too are thankful for John Rejmer - and what He did through
John.
I had the privilege to know
John, and I wanted you
to feel as if you knew him
too. You see, in 1991, I made a promise.
- by George
Vacca, Manager
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