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Lansing State Journal:
The man who built from the ground up Lansing country music radio station WITL inspired many during his life. Friends remember Charles Mefford as a self-made man who showed others they could accomplish their dreams. He died Thursday in Naples, Fla. Mefford began his radio career by running errands for disc jockeys as a boy, said Sharon Hetrick, Mefford's former office manager at WITL for six years. He worked his way up and in 1964 bought his own station, Lansing's WMRT, for $180,000. He transformed it into WITL, a multimillion-dollar enterprise that he once called "Michigan's first full-time country music station." "He was a self-made man," said Hetrick, of DeWitt. "He was an inspiration to so many people." Mefford, who had heart problems for years, died several days after suffering a head injury from a fall Monday, said Hetrick's husband, Jeff Hetrick. Mefford was 76... WITL founder Mefford inspired friends (Sat, 12/8)
