Remembering Beth Hyams

Former KBOO Board Member Eugene Bradley remembers Beth Hyams
 

To the KBOO Community:

I would like to take a moment to mark the passing of a long-time KBOO radioactivist. Beth Hyams died March 12, 2021, after a long fight against a recurrence of cancer. She was 67 year old.

Beth came to Portland in 1990. She had spent the previous 5 years volunteering at KPFA in Berkeley. She took training in community radio there, and served as volunteer news reporter and anchor of the KPFA evening news.

Beth always told people that she reached out to KBOO on her first visit to Portland.

Beth joined KBOO as a volunteer in News and Public Affairs.  In March 1991, she was hired to be KBOO’s Volunteer Coordinator. Many KBOO volunteers remember their first experience at KBOO was meeting Beth at Volunteer Orientation.  

She served as Volunteer Coordinator until August 1993, when she accepted a job at OPB Radio. She would serve in OPB’s News Department for the next 28 years. 

Beth remained a supporter of community radio, and of KBOO. In 2003 she ran for a seat on the Board of Directors. She served as Secretary of the Board throughout her term, ending in 2005.

Beth also conducted trainings in announcing and news-writing for KBOO volunteers in News and Public Affairs.

Beth had a deep devotion to the idea of public service, and had a strong commitment to community radio. She was proud of her roots in KPFA and KBOO, and felt that her experience in community radio helped shape her career.

Those of us who got to know Beth and work with her remember her many contributions, and  mourn her passing. KBOO has lost a true friend.

Eugene Bradley 
KBOO member