John Uphoff (1961 - 2008)
John Uphoff
27th September, 1961 to 5th August, 2008
It is with the greatest sadness that we announce the death of John Uphoff at the age of 46. John passed away peacefully in hospital in Southampton where he had been receiving treatment since falling seriously ill a few weeks ago.
John was born and raised in Bradford. From his teens he was besotted by radio and set his sights on a career as a radio presenter. Like many broadcasters, John began his career as a volunteer with Hospital Radio. Then in 1988, he decided to leave his full-time job in retail and attempt to break into radio full-time.
He was almost immediately successful, working for Pennine Radio in Yorkshire and becoming a key member of the launch team for the then new station, Viking Gold, based in Hull. While working for Independent Radio in Yorkshire, John honed his skills as a presenter and found himself presenting every show in the schedule at one time, or another.
John Uphoff on Classic Gold
John arrived in Jersey in 1991 to work on Eclipse FM, an experimental satellite radio service broadcasting to Europe from Jersey.
In 1992 he joined Jersey’s Channel 103FM as Head of Music and Senior Presenter. As well as holding down a regular weekday radio show, John also helped to train budding presenters and was in charge of the station’s music.
As ever, John’s first love was being on the air and when he found that the other aspects of his work were getting in the way of that, in typical Uphoff fashion, he decided to leave the security of a staff job and become a freelance radio presenter, concentrating on the thing he loved most – “being on the wireless.”
John Uphoff and Roger Bara
John first came to BBC Radio Jersey in 2002 as the presenter of our Saturday mid-morning programme – a show he continually presented from then until his recent illness. He soon became a full-time member of the team, adding presentation of the Morning Show to his list of achievements.
In April of 2007, John made the career move which was to be the high-point of his broadcasting career when he became the regular presenter of Jersey Today, BBC Radio Jersey’s flagship breakfast programme. Teamed with another Jersey veteran, Roger Bara, John was able to allow his irreverent, often non-politically-correct and always wry view to life to flourish.
Listeners were drawn in ever-increasing numbers to John and the programme, until over 25,000 people in Jersey were listening to him every week. He was both proud of and, to use his own words, “bloody terrified” by that success. John took the responsibility he had to serve his audience very seriously.
He had that rarest of talents – being able to say what you were thinking and to hold up a mirror to the more ridiculous aspects of life and society. He also possessed the ability to make us laugh at it all. At the same time, he was a tenacious and highly-skilled interviewer, able to switch effortlessly from the light-hearted to the serious.
John was also his own greatest critic. After rising at 4 a.m. and working through the morning, he would listen back to a recording of his own performance at home, constantly seeking to improve. He once said “I’ve got the best job in the world, so in return I have to be as good as I can be.”
John, Roger and a TARDIS
That said and despite his great professional successes. John was modest and self-deprecating. He always insisted that success of was a team-effort, and that his was mainly due to his producers, He loved to describe himself as, “just a gob on a stick.” He was, of course, much, much more than that. He was, simply, one of the most talented, committed and professional broadcasters it has been my privilege to work with.
Radio wasn’t just John’s job. It was his obsession and his love and it formed a huge part of his life. We at BBC Jersey and the thousands of Islanders who tuned in faithfully to have John brighten up their mornings have lost a unique broadcaster and a good friend.
John leaves his wife Jan, who was by his side at the end. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and John’s family at this saddest of times.
Funeral details will be announced at a later date.
