This story has been updated with more information.
Colleagues mourned the sudden death in December of radio engineer Chris Tobin.
He suffered a heart attack during HVAC project work for his employer WBGO in Newark, N.J., according to the station’s Interim President/CEO Robert Ottenhoff.
Tobin had been chief engineer of WBGO and this year was promoted to chief technology officer.
Ottenhoff described Tobin as not only a “spectacular engineer” with “amazing technical and engineering expertise, creative and innovative,” but also as a positive presence in the workplace.
“Optimistic and friendly. Everyone loved Chris, he did so much for so many people,” Otenhoff said.
Tobin also was known in the engineering community for his work as co-host for 11 years of the online program “This Week in Radio Tech,” or TWiRT. Show host Kirk Harnack posted a note on social media calling it “devastating news.”
Tobin was also former president of Content Creator Solutions, according to his LinkedIn page.
According to a funeral home obituary, Tobin, 59, was a native New Yorker who developed a keen interest in broadcast engineering as a teenager while working at Radio Shack.
Among his past employers it listed ABC Radio Network, WBAB, Westwood One, CBS Radio (1010WINS/WNEW 102.7FM), CCS/Musicam USA and Jazz 88 WBGO in Newark.
“While serving as chief technology officer at WBGO, Chris also became a prolific videographer and photographer, ilming some of the greatest jazz artists of our time,” the obituary states.
Viewings were set for Sunday, Jan. 3. The obituary asked that in lieu of flowers, friends donate to the Society of Broadcast Engineers’ scholarship activities.
