New Catholic radio station to air in Sioux City area soon

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Oct. 18, 2007

Catholic radio will soon be coming to the Sioux City area thanks to a lay apostolate that formed St. Gabriel Communications, Ltd.

The three officers on the board of directors for St. Gabriel Communications in Sioux City have something in common besides their love of the Catholic faith - they were all friends of the late Father Harold Cooper.

The priest who died on Sept. 1 of this year is best known in the Diocese of Sioux City as founder of Trinity Heights Queen of Peace. After that dream and project came to fruition, his next line of business was promotion of Catholic radio.

Dr. Ken Roach, secretary/treasurer of St. Gabriel Communications, said listeners will soon enjoy Catholic programming on the radio dial at 88.1 FM.

"This whole thing was the brainchild of Father Harold Cooper," said Dr. Roach. "Father was a very special priest, a visionary. He was a good friend of all of ours so we are following through by making this station happen."

KFHC

Jerry "Cal" Calhoun, vice president of the board, said that because the priest played such an important role in making Catholic radio a reality in Sioux City, the call letters for the station were selected after Father Cooper - KFHC. The idea for the call letters came from John Fitzsimmons, president of the board.

Fitzsimmons pointed out that they selected St. Gabriel Communications as their corporate name because he is the patron saint of communications. It was St. Gabriel who made the announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would be the mother of God.

He knew Father Cooper while growing up in Vail. Fitzsimmons remembers that back in the mid-1990s the priest hosted a weekly prayer group.

"Then after we would pray, we would talk about some things that needed to be addressed and one of those things was Catholic radio," said Fitzsimmons.

They made application for the station back in 1998 and nine years and 11 months later their license came through last spring. It took longer than normal to receive a license because another entity counter-filed for the same frequency so the FCC had to do a comparative hearing. The Catholic radio station received the approval on May 30 and the other was rejected.

"It was the answer to a lot of waiting, a lot of prayers and then the action began," said Fitzsimmons.

They recently rented office space in the Benson Building, Suite 238, in downtown Sioux City.

Calhoun explained that they also leased space on a E-911 tower in Dakota County located on land owned by Leonard Gill in Jackson, Neb. It saved Gabriel Communications great expense to rent space rather than build a new tower.

50-mile radius

"It is a Class C3 station," said Calhoun, who has been in the broadcast business for almost 20 years. "We can put out 14,000 watts at 400 feet. It gives us a coverage area of approximately a 50-mile radius."

Coverage area in the diocese should extend to Hawarden, Alton, Orange City, Marcus, Correctionville, Mapleton and Onawa. The programming will reach listeners in Northeast Nebraska and Southeast South Dakota as well.

According to Fitzsimmons, initially they will utilize national programming from EWTN and Ave Maria.

"They are mostly call in shows during the daytime, especially drive times," said Fitzsimmons. "Everything is very orthodox and Catholic-based."

Some of the shows will highlight current topics such as stem-cell research, canon law questions or family-related issues. In addition, there will be four hours of devotionals each day including Mass, the rosary, Stations of the Cross and more.

"Experts from the Catholic faith answer these intimate and personal questions," he said. "Plus there is that intimacy where a person may not want to approach someone they know like their parish priest on a face-to-face basis but here they can talk to someone who is an expert. Plus, there is anonymity."

The plan is to eventually add in local programming, with guidance from Bishop R. Walker Nickless.

Dr. Roach, whose day-job is a veterinarian, pointed out that in the last 10 years there has been an explosion in Catholic radio. He said 60 million people now listen to Catholic radio and in the next year there will be an additional 20 million listeners.

He attended a national conference with Fitzsimmons at EWTN and that affirmed their work for this ministry.

"There is so much grace that is happening in America through Catholic radio and we are so pleased to be able to bring this to the Sioux City community," said Fitzsimmons, who is a claims adjustor by trade.

Fundraising efforts

As they await the arrival of equipment, the board is presently looking to hire a general manager to run the station. They are also seeking donations to offset the costs of the equipment and ongoing expenses. Checks may be sent to St. Gabriel Communication, PO Box 3205, Sioux City, IA 51102. Eventually, they will need volunteers to help at the station.

The new Catholic radio station also has the support of Bishop Nickless.

In a letter of support, the bishop wrote, "In a world dominated by expanding communications it is essential that there be an alternative to secular media. Catholic radio will give everyone an opportunity to hear the truth of the Catholic faith daily. Jesus' words are truth, not as a community-based consensus, but truth which comes from listening to the church guided by the Holy Spirit."

The bishop encourages people to support the campaign by the Catholic radio.

The station will also seek businesses to underwrite costs.

"Even though Father Cooper died, we still feel that his guidance is here and we sense him everywhere. I know he is still helping," said Roach.