Rick Sellers was born and raised in Akron, graduated from high school and has a Master’s degree from Miami University…all in Ohio.  From there, he came to Cedar Rapids at the invitation of Ed Lasko, then general manager at KCRG Radio and Television, now deceased, to handle the programming duties of KCRG Radio (now KGYM).  In 1976, he joined the staff of WMT Radio, first as promotion director, then program director of WMT-AM, then vice president-operations and programming for both WMT AM and FM…then was appointed General Manager of WMT AM/FM.  Four years later, an opportunity to buy his own station surfaced and in early 1998, he announced his decision to purchase KMRY, at that time, an AM- only station operating at 1450. In the almost 24 years he’s owned the station, he likes to say it has grown in radio’s important 3R’s Revenue, Ratings, and Respect. In 2002, he was recognized by the Iowa Broadcasters Association as ‘Broadcaster of the Year”, and was president of that association from 2007-2009.In September,2021 Rick was again honored by the Iowa Broadcasters Association by naming him to the HALL OF FAME. Ten years ago, KMRY added an FM signal, at 93.1 …and the station still is morphing and growing those ‘3R’s!’ In late 2021, he announced his plans to retire and also announced the sale of KMRY AM-FM to Jim Ecker and several local investors.

 

Rick is married to Wanda who retired in June, 2021 after using her PhD at the Area Substance Abuse Council.  In addition to their 3 grown children, Amy in Golden, Colorado, Tim of Marion and Lori also of Marion the two enjoy the spoiled member of the family, Paddy, a sheltie dog that recently barked her 3rd birthday. Rick enjoys ham radio and has an extra class license from the FCC, is a past member of downtown Rotary, has served on the board of Big Brothers-Big Sisters, The Red Cross, The Freedom Festival and others.