Voice of Northeast Missouri: Longtime KMEM Broadcaster Rick Fischer Dies at 66

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MEMPHIS, Mo. – Rick Fischer, one of Northeast Missouri’s most recognized and beloved radio personalities, passed away on Thursday, April 17, at Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City. He was 66.

For more than three decades, Fischer served as a steady, familiar voice on KMEM Radio, where he worked from the station’s inception in 1982 until his retirement in 2017. He was one of the original staff members who helped launch the station, and he remained its News and Programming Director, morning show host, and on-air anchor of community life for 36 years.

Fischer’s legacy is defined by his commitment to truly local broadcasting. He hosted hallmark programs like The General Store and Coffee Break, and served as a color commentator for Clark County Indians football alongside Andy Middleton, helping bring high school sports into homes across the region. He was also a fixture at community events, serving as Master of Ceremonies for countless county fairs, parades, talent shows and the KMEM Country Showdown.

A proud graduate of Wyaconda High School and Iowa Weselyn College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Fischer originally set his sights on the theater. In the early 1980s, he toured with the Toby & Susie Show, a traveling comedic variety tent show, and even auditioned for major theater companies in Springfield, Denver and the Twin Cities. But fate—and a newspaper clipping spotted by his mother—led him home to Northeast Missouri and into the world of radio.

“I realized when I started working here I loved this job. I loved the community,” Fischer once told The Edina Sentinel in a 2017 retirement interview. That profile, titled “Big Fish in a Little Pond,” captured the story of a man who chose small-town service over big-city stage lights—and in doing so, made a big impact on the people and places around him.

Fischer helped define the role of KMEM not just as a radio station, but as a grassroots rural resource. “At the time, people in this area had no daily source for true local news,” he said of those early days. “We became successful because we focused on that—on news, sports, and community stories that mattered.”

Beyond his professional work, Rick and his late wife Teresa, who passed away in 2019, were well known for their joyful portrayal of Santa and Mrs. Claus each Christmas season—roles that reflected their shared love of giving back. He often said that Teresa was the love of his life, and those close to him knew how deeply he cherished their years together.

Rick Fischer also leaves behind a library of unforgettable stories—many involving the antics of his longtime colleague and friend Jim Sears, another original KMEM staffer. From lighting scripts on fire during live broadcasts to prank-filled mornings, their camaraderie and on-air chemistry were part of what endeared KMEM to its listeners for so long.

Fischer is survived by his twin brother, Ron Fischer (Deb); stepdaughter Pam Jensen (Wes) of Bloomfield, Iowa; two grandsons, and two great-granddaughters. He was known to say he “never met a stranger,” and he made sure no one ever forgot who he was.

As a broadcaster, community advocate, storyteller and friend, Rick Fischer’s presence shaped the identity of Northeast Missouri for more than a generation. His voice may be gone from the airwaves, but his legacy lives on in the people he informed, entertained and inspired every day.