After roughly 40 years behind the mic, WOMT’s Lee Douglas has announced he is hanging up the headphones.
The Manitowoc community has woken up with Lee for the past 20 years as a part of the Lee and Damon Show with Damon Ryan up until his retirement in 2023, and most recently on the Lee and Steve Show.
He has also interviewed thousands of people on Be My Guest, and has been a part of Gumby’s Club Fore a Cure for the past decade or so.
His interest in radio began in childhood, as his brother and sister would listen to WOKY out of Milwaukee, which was a rock station at the time.
Then, in high school, Lee had a speech class with a teacher who also worked part-time at what is now known as WQTC, who fostered his interest in the industry.
After attending the State University of LaCrosse, now known as UW LaCrosse, Lee got his first radio job at WQTC, where he worked as the news director and met Ron Zimmerman and John Barber.
“I worked with John in the morning, and he changed it from the John Barber Show to the Barbar Douglas Morning Show,” Douglas recalled. “I learned a ton of stuff from him, much more than college, about how to be a radio announcer.”
When new owners cut the news department, Lee went to work at the Manitowoc Company.
It was during that time he got a call from the late Don Seehafer.
“Tom Edwards, who was the mid-day guy, was leaving,” Lee explained. “(Don asked) would I want to do the middays. And I said, “Sure.” I did mid-days for 20 years, and I enjoyed it. I just loved it here.”
Lee did take a bit of a break from radio as he took a higher-paying job with a friend and served on the Wisconsin Assembly for a term.
But again, Mr. Seehafer came calling.
“Don said, ‘Hey, what are you doing on say this coming Wednesday?’ I said, ‘Oh, nothing really. Why?’ He says, ‘Well, I got some tickets for the Brewer game. Do you want to go to the Brewer game with me?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ And I hung up the phone. I told Lynn, ‘I think he’s going to want to ask me to come to work for him,’” Lee recalled with a chuckle.
He did indeed come back to WOMT Radio, where he spent the next 20 years doing the morning show. Lee has also been the voice of Be My Guest, which he says is his favorite part of the job.
“I’ve done a lot of Be My Guest shows and interviewed a lot of people,” he said. “All the Letterman, Charlie Bearens…I mean, there’s been some really popular people, but just the people from around here that I talked with, I enjoyed doing that.”
We asked Lee if he had anything to say to the people who have listened to him over the years.
While he first joked, saying, “I feel sorry for you,” before saying thank you.
“When I get calls or texts or something from people who enjoyed or liked something I did, it really means a lot,” he explained. “It’s emotional in the way to have that, to have people do that. Everybody doesn’t get a chance to have that type of thing going on.”
He also thanked everyone at Seehafer Broadcasting, which he says is “a great place to work.”
Lee’s last day on the air will be Friday, June 26th, where he will also host his final Be My Guest interview with a man he calls a close friend, the Voice of Lambeau Field, and fellow retiree, Bill Jartz.
