Signing Off: HFC alumna retires after 50 years in radio
In mid-January, Michigan Public Emeritus Operations Manager Peggy J. Watson signed off for the final time, retiring after five decades in radio.
“I loved my job. It’s just time for the younger people with new ideas to take over. You want to leave before people want you to go!” said Watson. “Our audience has been wonderful. I got along with everybody, and I had more than 100 interns over the years. I walked away feeling good about my job.”
Born in Detroit, Watson is the youngest of two and the only daughter. She lives in Manchester with David, her husband of 44 years. They have two adult children and one grandson. Her in-laws, Bill and Elaine Watson, taught at the College.
Watson is a graduate of Cody High School in Detroit. She took a year off between high school and college, in which she worked before she had an epiphany.
“I was engaged. I was going to get married and be a dental assistant because I had been doing that in high school. Then I had this ‘wow’ moment and I realized I did not want to be a dental assistant for the rest of my life. So I asked my dad if he'd send me to college, and he did. I chose HFC because it was close. Many of my high school friends attended the College and talked about having good experiences,” recalled Watson.
A whole new world at HFC
HFC opened up a “whole new world” for Watson. She met her husband at the College, and she was heavily involved in WHFC – the predecessor to WHFR-FM (89.3 FM) – HFC’s student-run radio station.
“We were in the process of getting our FM license during my time there,” said Watson. “I just fell in love with radio.”
What is now WHFR began as a student radio club at HFC (then Henry Ford Community College) in 1962. It operated on a public address system inside a very small room in the Student Center. The radio club’s mission from the beginning was to start a live broadcast radio station, serving the unique music and information needs of the community and the students at HFC.
By 1976, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted WHFC its first 10-watt FM operational channel, allowing the College to broadcast educational FM radio with the potential to upgrade later. By 1978, the College’s leaders recognized the spirit, passion, and dedication of the radio club members. They applied for an FM broadcast license from the FCC. The College received the license in 1979, but the necessary preparations to start broadcasting – including construction, equipment, staffing, budget, and other requirements – took a few years to procure and complete. WHFC became WHFR in 1985. In late 2025, WHFR celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Watson worked closely with the radio station founder/advisor Jay Korinek. Eventually, she became the station manager.
“I met a whole new group of people. We ran it like an actual radio station and not a club, especially after getting our FM license,” she said. “For a publicity stunt, we stuffed a van with all the DJs. There were around 50 of us, but we did it!” She added with a laugh: “That was a long five minutes!”
Watson also wrote for The Ford Estate, the predecessor of The Mirror News, HFC’s student newspaper. She earned her associate degree in liberal arts from HFC, then transferred to Western Michigan University where she earned her bachelor's degree in communications. She also completed some graduate courses in communications at Wayne State University.
“I took a lot of botany classes at the College. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go into botany or radio. Eventually, I chose radio,” said Watson. “I was a decent student in high school, but I started to really love learning when I got to HFC. I took classes in history, botany, communications, speech – I just loved it. I did really well in my two years there. I absorbed everything like a sponge. I had all these options to do so many things at a community college.”
43 years at Michigan Public
At WMU, Watson was a DJ for WIDR-FM (89.1) for three years. After graduation, she worked for WIHT-TV in Ann Arbor for three years. In 1982, Watson began working for Michigan Public (which was then Michigan Public Radio), where she remained for the next 43 years of her career.
Watson worked alongside long-time broadcast journalist Tom Hemingway, who covered football at the University of Michigan for 40 years. Hemingway was the announcer, while Watson was the sound engineer in the 1980s during the time of legendary U-M coach Bo Schembechler, who never had a losing season in that decade and achieved many milestones, including four Big Ten Championships and a Rose Bowl victory in 1989. “That was an amazing time. I learned so much. We did the play-by-play commentary, which we fed to about 40 stations throughout Michigan,” she said. “I enjoyed engineering the football games and being on the road. There were very few women back then doing that.”
Watson spoke about why she spent more than 40 years at Michigan Public.
“When I first started at the station, it was a classical radio station, and I was the production assistant. It eventually became an NPR affiliate. The station evolved, and so did my position. U-M was such a wonderful place to work. There was no reason for me to leave. I enjoyed the work, the station, and the people. I loved mentoring interns,” she said.
An encouraging climate for learning
Among Watson’s retirement plans are spending more time with her family, especially her grandson. She will also travel with her husband, as well as swim and hike.
“I just want to take care of myself and enjoy life,” she said.
In no uncertain terms, Watson said she wouldn’t have had this career if not for HFC.
“I think of HFC as a place where we can learn and grow. I got a good education at the College. A community college is a wonderful thing. I didn’t get lost in the shuffle. It was a very good experience. I fondly remember it,” she said. “Without a doubt, it set up me for a successful career in whatever I wanted to be. It was a very encouraging climate for learning. It was diverse and wonderful. I met so many different kinds of people.”
Michigan Public Program Director Matt Shafer Powell was Watson’s supervisor. They began working together in 2022.
“Peg is the one person every office or organization needs,” he said. “As an employee, she's a hard worker and extremely conscientious. She cares deeply about serving our listeners. She's always ready to step up and never complains. But beyond that, she's funny, fun, talented, smart, and when things get tense, she's the one who can bring everyone back to center. She's a straight shooter, who can be frank with you without wounding you. That's a particularly valuable skill set in radio, where we are all, to varying levels, servants to our egos.”
He continued: “I can spend a lot of time whining about how we're going to continue without Peg, but that distracts us from recognizing this incredible milestone. Peg has spent 43 years at the same radio station, and we are all so happy for her! She deserves every bit of reward she gets in her retirement!”