From: Val Davis
Subject: Obituary: William Pfeiffer, 44, Radio Web Site Creator
Date: Sep 6, 1999
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom

http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=80898735

Obituaries: William Pfeiffer, 44, radio Web site creator
Lucy Y. Her / Star Tribune

William Pfeiffer, the creator, editor and moderator of the newsgroup rec.radio.broadcasting and its companion Web site
http://www.airwaves.com
died in a car crash Wednesday in Apple Valley. He was 44.

He was delivering pizza for Pizza Hut in Rosemount about 6:40 p.m. when
his car collided with another at 140Tm St. and 140Tm Path, said his
fiancee, Cindy Freeman of Milwaukee.

Pfeiffer started the newsgroup in 1991 while living in Springfield, Mo.

"He had a love of radio unlike anybody I have ever known," said Kent
Peterson, a cameraman for KMSP-TV (Channel 9), in the Twin Cities. He
had been logging on to the newsgroup since 1992.

Peterson said Pfeiffer started the newsgroup to help improve
radio. "He felt he succeeded, but it was a project that will be never completed," he said. "Radio will never be completed. Bill wanted to
make it as close to perfection as possible."

Radio was Pfeiffer's passion, Peterson said. Both men helped author a rulemaking proposal to the Federal Communication Commission that would
allow the creation of new regulations to allow low-power broadcast
service for small community-based stations. The proposal is in the
approval stage, Peterson said. "It was one of the many things Bill
was very excited about."

Alan Freed, of Beat Radio in Minneapolis, met Pfeiffer through the
newsgroup. They had a professional relationship through the Internet for
two years before meeting in 1997.

"He was an intelligent, well-spoken and passionate person in what he
was doing," Freed said. "He was a pioneer."

In December 1996, Pfeiffer was living with his mother in Springfield,
when a fire destroyed their home. His mother died shortly afterward
and Pfeiffer's collection of airchecks and radio paraphernalia were
ruined. He later moved to Milwaukee to start over in radio, and then
moved to Northfield, Minn., in 1998 to work for KYMN (1080 AM) for
five months.

Besides the Web site and newsgroup, Pfeiffer was a pizza deliverer, a
Web-page designer and a disc jockey for Midwest Sound and Light in
Minneapolis. He also often volunteered to teach children how to use
computers, said Val Davis of Emmetsburg, Iowa, another friend whom
Pfeiffer met through rec.radio.broadcasting.

Pfeiffer grew up in Chicago, where he often spent his evenings trying
to tune into distant stations, Davis said.

"He always was into the technical side of radio, like who was on the
radio and where," he said.

Freeman, who met Pfeiffer 10 years ago, said she was attracted to his personality. They had been engaged for only a few weeks and had
planned to get married next summer.

"He was very forthright, and he was always building me up," she said.
"He taught me what I know about Web design and computers. I love Bill,
and [his death will] leave an empty space in my life for a long time."

Services are pending.

Copyright 1999 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: At the present time, Minnesota
authorities are attempting to locate any 'next of kin' who wish to
claim his remains or any of his possessions, which were few. He
had one sister, whose whereabouts are unknown, and a father who
may or may not be alive. As to his location, Bill once commented
in a personal discussion, 'I do not know and do not care to know.'
His body remains in the custody of the coroner's office pending
someone claiming it.

Of all the times we met socially over the years, the one that stands
out more clearly than any in my mind was Thanksgiving Day, 1980. I
invited Bill and his mom to be my guest for dinner that day. We went
to Berghoff's in downtown Chicago, and after dinner as I was taking
them back home in a cab, Mrs. Pfieffer reached in a bag she was
carrying and handed me a pair of mittens she had made on her sewing
machine at home. She had made a pair for Bill to wear in the winter,
and wanted me to have a pair also. Such a happy little family they
were, the two of them. She was in her late sixties then, and Bill was
about 23 or 24 years old, and delivering pizzas on the occassions when
he had a car that would run. I miss them both. PAT]

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