Updated at 2:15pm Eastern
As Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink first reported Wednesday morning (10/15), Thomas Hamilton Stoner — the Des Moines native who would create the former Stoner Broadcasting and had been residing in picturesque Annapolis, Md., in recent years, has died.
Tom Stoner was 88 years old and passed away of pulmonary fibrosis on October 19. In addition to his ownership of radio stations, Mr. Stoner played a key role in the creation of American Radio Systems and, later, American Tower Corp.
He also unsuccessfully sought the U.S. Senate seat held by Charles Grassley.
“Tom died the way he lived, with exuberance,” a public obituary from the John M. Taylor Funeral Home stated. “He passed away surrounded by family. Joy, gratitude, passion — love. At the end of his last day, the end of a fruitful life, this is what burned brightly within Tom Stoner. Though he is gone, this is what remains. The intensity of those qualities he radiated was so great, we feel their warmth today.”
Stoner Broadcasting included properties such as WONE-AM, WTUE-FM and WMMX-FM in Dayton, stations that saw Radio Ink and RBR+TVBR President/Publisher Deborah Parenti serve as Vice President/General Manager; Parenti directed the switch of WMMX to “Mix 107.7,” a station that along with WTUE remains highly successful under iHeartMedia ownership.
“Tom Stoner was an incredible broadcaster and visionary,” Parenti said. “Along with the late Steve Dodge and David Pearlman, he built one of the preeminent radio companies in the industry at the time, American Radio Systems. Moreover, to me he was a mentor and a friend who I will never forget.”
In the 1992 revenue rankings by Duncan’s Radio Market Guide, Jim Duncan placed Stoner at No. 47 by total dollars; its revenue was $22 million, at a time when radio companies were just emerging from the Persian Gulf War-fueled recession that cost George H.W. Bush a second term as U.S. President. In June 1993, Stoner, together with Atlantic Radio and Multi Market Communications, would merge to form American Radio Systems. This put the newly formed company at No. 15 in revenue rank, and shifted Stoner’s business operations to Boston. Atlantic’s Dodge would assume the role of Chief Executive Officer, while Pearlman became Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Stoner shifted to Board Chairman, taking a hands-off role in ARS’s day-to-day activities.
Stoner relocated to Annapolis in 1984. In 1980, he sought a seat in the U.S. Senate, and ran as a Republican against Grassley, who at age 90 is today President Pro Tempore Emeritus of the upper body of Congress. Stoner managed the campaign of Iowa Gov. Robert Ray’s re-election campaign from 1972-1974, and in 1975 served as Chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. Grassley easily won the 1980 Republican Primary and has been in elected office ever since; Stoner remained focus on Radio.
In a Publisher’s Profile interview with then-Radio & Records head Erica Farber, Duncan paid tribute to Mr. Stoner as an influential individual “who taught me humanitarianism and philanthropy. Tom is one of the most admirable people in the industry.” In a September 2000 interview, Pearlman commented, “I have lived out every broadcaster’s dream. I bought my first station, a start-up, turnaround, 50,000-watt signal with no audience and no revenue. I took an all-weather format, and flipped it to Hot Adult Contemporary. WZMX-FM in Hartford went from ‘worst to first’ in Connecticut in a relatively short period of time. That station later became an important catalyst in creating American Radio Systems with Tom Stoner and Steve Dodge.”
Also citing Mr. Stoner as an influential individual is Mary Quass, the Chair/CEO of NRG Media LLC. Speaking in November 2002 to Farber, Quass noted how Stoner gave her the opportunity to buy her first radio station. “He understood that it was a business, but he also understood the human side of it.”
Stoner was also a philanthropist, and in 1969 was the founding board chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. He spoke with Kristi Knous about an urban sanctuary he’s left for the foundation in a September 2022 interview.
Mr. Stoner is survived by his wife of 50 years, Kitty, along with their four children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. A private family rite has already taken place, with memorial services currently being planned.
In lieu of flowers, the family invited donations to Nature Sacred and memorial messages at https://naturesacred.org/tomstoner.
