Dick Ziegler and The WFGL Radio Station

Richard Ziegler, more commonly known as Dick Williams, was a popular musician, singer, and radio personality in the city of Fitchburg, Massachusetts who dedicated his life to making people happy. He had an orchestra that performed all around New England where he was best known for singing as he was conducting the orchestra. Then he was recruited by the WFGL radio station located in Fitchburg where he became a popular DJ, especially with his Sunday morning Songs of Faith program where he received a lot of fanmail. Dick Williams was in the radio business for over 30 years where he then retired to Florida to live a pretty magical life working at Disney’s Magic Kingdom where he put a smile on everyone's face.

Background

Richard Ziegler was born in Leominster, MA on February 20, 1922, to Frederick and Agnes Ziegler who lived in Fitchburg, MA. Richard grew up in Fitchburg and graduated from Fitchburg High School in 1940. After graduating, he attended Middlesex College for a year before leaving to serve in the Marines. He came back from the Pacific in 1945 and married his wife Betty. Richard always had a passion for music and he sang in the church choir as a boy but never did anything with his musical talents until he entered the radio and live music business. 

Orchestra

Richard began his career in the music and radio industries shortly after his four-year term in the Marines was over. When he and his family first moved to Fitchburg, he began singing every weekend at a nightclub in Ayer, which is where he met Frankie Dee in the early 1950s. He performed with Frankie Dee’s Orchestra where he went by the name “Dick Williams.” The name change was influenced by Hollywood stars not using their real names and because he thought Ziegler would not be an easy name to remember. Williams was his mother's maiden name, while Dick is a common nickname for Richard. Around the year 1956, Frankie Dee wanted to get out of the business and this almost marked an end for the band. However, Dick stepped up and took over, renaming it the Dick Williams Orchestra. There were twelve members, all either from Fitchburg or surrounding towns, including the former owners of Ritter's flower shop. They bought a secondhand bus and played locally throughout New England, where they would be hired as entertainers at colleges, ballroom events, nightclubs, and more. They were very popular around New England and had gigs almost every Saturday night. Dick himself was the lead singer and the personality of the band who dealt with the audience. 

Radio career

Originally, Dick went to college for podiatry, but quickly realized it wasn’t for him and went to radio school instead. Dick’s first job working for a radio station was in the 1940s as a staff announcer for WKXZ in Concord, NH. During this time, radio stations had live personalities who played recorded music, often big bands, and read the news, weather, and commercials. In his radio career, he started using the name Ziegler again instead of Williams. Ziegler became popularly known as the “Singing Announcer” because he often sang along with the tracks he would play. Back then, there were no automated tracks, just the live radio, so announcers were always looking for something new and different. Dick came up with the idea on his own of singing with the tracks, as he was a good singer. Following this job, he moved to Lawrence, MA and joined WHAV (currently known as WCCM) in 1948 “spinning discs and singing along.” Ziegler next moved to Fitchburg, MA where he worked for WEIM. Then, in 1956, the new owner of the Fitchburg-based radio station WFGM, Dave Meyers, asked Dick to join him at the station which was on the third floor of a building at 455 Main St. on the corner of Main Street and Prichard Street at the time. WFGM was a daytime station airing from sunrise to sunset. During Dick’s 23 years at the station, he became a very popular DJ. He had lots of fans, people loved the music he played and they loved his voice singing along with it; he became somewhat of a celebrity locally because everyone recognized him from the radio. However, despite the enthusiasm and support he received, Dick thought of himself as a regular guy and always stayed humble. WFGM originally went on air on Feb. 15, 1950, and after George Chatfield bought it in 1962 the call sign changed to WFGL in 1967. Previously “FGM” stood for Fitchburg, Gardner, Montachusett, but it has since switched to Leominster rather than Montachusett leading to the change in the call sign. During Dick’s time with WFGL, the term “radio announcer” changed to “disc jockey” (DJ). WFGM/L was what people would call a “middle of the road” radio station which meant the songs they played kept up with the rest of the country playing what was popular and what people wanted to hear. As long as he was staying within the boundaries of station policy, Dick chose all the music he played himself. He was not a fan of rock & roll and never played it on the station, but ballrooms were popular and Dick loved the big bands of the time such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin’s band, Rat Pack. Dick’s time with WFGL continued until Chatfield changed the station format to automated, eliminating live broadcasts. Eventually, the station’s studio was relocated to a renovated townhouse at 170 Prichard Street which was renamed Broadcast House. 

Songs of Faith

During his time with WFGL, Dick had a Sunday morning religious program called Songs of Faith in which he would play and sing along with Christian albums and read liner notes off the back of the album. He came up with the idea himself as he thought the station should have a religious show on Sunday mornings. Post-retirement, he had referred to this program as being one of the most satisfying parts of the job. The program ran from 7 am to 9 am and it was a fan favorite; he received many letters complimenting it. People loved it so much that they would send Dick checks and cash in the mail, but he always sent the money back. He felt guilty taking it because he truly was just doing what he loved. 

Post - Radio

After 33 years working in the radio business, Dick and Betty moved to Kissimmee, Florida. During the time of the move, all live DJs were starting to lose their jobs and Dick had always wanted to move to Florida. He was the first one to move, as his son Rob was just graduating high school and Betty stayed in Fitchburg. Dick was able to find a job at a small radio station in Orlando, where he worked for only a year. Then, once both kids were done with high school, Betty joined her husband down south. Always coming home after stressful days, Dick wanted something simple such as selling tickets at a merry-go-round, and he landed himself the Disney job. Even though he didn’t move down there with the intention of being an engineer, he operated a steam train around Magic Kingdom. He worked on the railroad, learning to drive the train; he had the perfect voice for the conductor job. Not only did he work on the trains, but he also did some voiceovers for Disney employee training videos as well. Dick loved going to work and seeing the smiling families and their kids enjoying the train rides. He was at the Magic Kingdom for 10 years and never missed a day of work, which was unheard of, so he won an award for it. He retired after that and when describing his many years of “working every day and having a good time,” he said that he “couldn’t wait for tomorrow.” Dick Ziegler passed away at the age of 89 on May 6, 2011, after living a fulfilling life where he was loved by many. Today, the station format is Christian contemporary and it goes by the name Renew FM. It is conjoined with the Horizon Christian Fellowship Church located at 356 Broad Street. 

Richard Ziegler Obituary (2011) - fitchburg, MA - Sentinel & Enterprise. Legacy.com. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/fitchburg/name/richard-ziegler-obituary?id= 2136425 

RenewFM. (n.d.). History. RenewFM. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://renewfm.org/about/history/\

Richard Ziegler Obituary - Kissimmee, FL. Dignity Memorial. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/kissimmee-fl/richard-ziegler-4663011

WFGL-AM 960 khz. WFGL-AM 960 kHz - Fitchburg, MA. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://radio-locator.com/info/WFGL-AM

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, October 27). WHAV-LP. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHAV-LP

Wikimedia Foundation. (2018, April 7). WCCM. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCCM

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, October 5). WFGL. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFGL

Fitchburg Historical Society. (n.d). Dick Ziggler portrait- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society.

Retrieved November 21

Dick Ziggler's name tag while at WFGL (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Dick Ziggler's pitch pipe (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Dick Ziggler Orchestra Pamphlet.(n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Flyer for Dick Ziggler Orchestra (n.d)-Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Fan Mail (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Radio host certification card (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Photo of Dick hosting his show (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Photo of the multiple types of fan mail Dick received (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Concert taken place at Wallace civic center (n.d)- Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Dicks Radio Operator License (n.d) - Photo. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Songs Of Faith (1) (n.d)- cassette tape. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Songs Of Faith (2) (n.d)- cassette tape. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Songs Of Faith (3) (n.d)- cassette tape. Fitchburg Historical Society. Retrieved November 21 2022

Rob Ziegler, personal communication, December 14, 2022