Patti Garcia inducted into San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame

Patti Garcia, an audio-visual specialist in the radio-television-film department at SAC, is one of 10 new members inducted into the San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame in August.

It’s a fitting tribute to a long and storied career that began when Garcia was a student studying radio and broadcasting at SAC. She’s taken on multiple roles over the years, including on-air talent, production, promotions, administrative and human resources functions for several local radio and television stations.

She moved to San Antonio from Detroit at age 21. As she was standing in line to register for classes at SAC, she saw broadcasting classes listed on the course schedule and realized that the college could help her achieve her goal of being a disc jockey.

“I already knew what my dream was, I just didn’t know my dream was right there in front of me,” Garcia said.

While taking classes Garcia began working at the campus radio station, KSYM, as a program director. She also did an internship at local radio stations KITY and KONO.

“I had already been in radio for two years by the time I graduated,” she said.

She went on to work at KITY and KONO for five years as both on-air talent and behind the scenes as a production director before moving on to another local radio company.

On her first day at country station Y100, she was invited to join her coworkers at a concert in a local mall parking lot. The singer invited her colleagues up on stage to belt out his new hit, “Friends in Low Places.” That up-and-coming artist was future country mega-star Garth Brooks.

“We did a lot of stuff like that over the years, meeting lots of different artists up close and personal,” Garcia said. “They would come to the radio stations, do little concerts in the conference room, singing their songs that were playing on the radio. It was fun doing all of that.”

Other career highlights include roles as a traffic director, placing commercials, events and programs into the lineup for daily broadcasts for KENS radio in San Antonio and remotely for three radio stations in Iowa. She taught Audio Production III at SAC as an adjunct professor and also worked at Edit Point Recording Studio in San Antonio.

Today, Garcia helps keep SAC’s RTF program and radio station running smoothly, assisting with daily operations and providing tech support to faculty and students.  

Garcia is the latest SAC-affiliated member of the San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame, a list that includes RTF assistant professor and KSYM general manager and faculty advisor, Donnie Meals, Tom Scheppke, former adjunct professor and host of KSYM’s “T-Bone’s Prime Cuts” show, and San Antonio radio legend Sonny Melendrez, now a community engagement consultant in the SAC president’s office.

“It’s such an honor. The folks inducted with me are legends,” she said. “There I was on the list with all these people I knew from back in the day. I either listened to them on the radio or I worked with them at some point.”

Garcia stays active in local broadcasting as part of puresanantoniotalk.com, an internet-based show featuring local and global news, talk, sports and comedy, hosted by Hector Reyes and featuring other local radio personalities.

She’s also active with the Society of San Antonio Radio Broadcasters. The group began as industry colleagues meeting for lunch and evolved into a non-profit organization with bylaws, officer elections and the Hall of Fame, which inducts new members each year. It’s the only major Texas city with its own professional association, Garcia said.

Her passion for broadcasting extends to helping students who are interested in the field. She takes students with her when she goes to events with other broadcasting professionals so they meet people in the industry. 

“We can’t forget the new people coming in,” she said. “We have to be able to help open the door for them.”

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