Charles Richard "Charlie" Tuma

1942 - 2022

Charles "Charlie" Richard Tuma

Oct. 19, 1942 - April 25, 2022

TWIN FALLS - Charles "Charlie" Richard Tuma, age 79, of Twin Falls, Idaho, passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on April 25, 2022. Mr. Tuma was born October 19, 1942, to Carl and Marie Tuma in Chadron, Nebraska.

He was the youngest of the siblings and was preceded in death by his two half-brothers, Harold and Wayne, and his sister Joanne. Charlie is survived by his son, Ted Tuma and his wife Angie of Hailey, ID, his daughter Emily Tuma of Twin Falls, ID, and one grandson, Jaden Tuma of Denver, CO.

Charlie loved radio. Growing up in Chadron, NE, he always listened to the radio and interned with local station KCSR during his high school years. After graduating from Chadron High School in 1960, Charlie attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where he earned Bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Broadcast Journalism in 1965. While in college, he worked the early morning show at KLIN and was enrolled in the ROTC program. Upon graduation, Charlie was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the Signal Corp of the U.S. Army.

Soon after graduating college, Charlie married his childhood friend, Jolene Byerly, on June 20, 1965. They quickly left the small town of Chadron and moved to New York City where he worked with the U.S. Army as a Liaison to the major broadcast networks. One year later, Charlie was deployed to Vietnam in conjunction with an Australian Division which performed psychological operations in a program called Winning Hearts And Minds (WHAM). Charlie's stint in Vietnam was something he rarely talked about because he was engaged in combat activity. While in Vietnam, Charlie studied radio engineering and received his First Class Broadcast License (FCC). For serving in Vietnam, he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal.

After returning from Vietnam, Charlie's next adventure took him to Denver, CO, where he worked as a broadcast engineer at KDKO prior to being hired full time at KBTR. Along with his team, Charlie pioneered the all-news format in the late 60's and early 70's under Owner John Mullins. It was in Denver, CO, where Charlie would start to grow his family.

In 1973, Charlie's career took him from being an employee to an Owner of a radio station as he purchased KLIX Radio in Twin Falls, ID. KLIX Radio 1310 was a country music radio station which quickly became "The Sound of the Valley" when Charlie added a strong local news and community presence. With its big city sound, KLIX absolutely dominated Southern Idaho radio.

In the early days, Charlie's team consisted of on-air personalities Dave Winter, Johnny Mac, Carl Raida, Bobby Dobbs, Dennis Conrad, Don Jebb, and Doug Van Tyle, plus the award-winning local news and sports department featuring Jim Morrison, Annette Jenkins, Joe Miani, Don Wimberly, Ed Prater, and Jerry Marcantonio.

Additionally, Charlie pioneered talk radio with the popular "Party Line" program hosted by L. James Koutnik. Charlie extended his dominance over the local market with the purchase of KMTW-FM, K-96.

Under Charlie's direction, KLIX promoted fun events for Magic Valley residents including the annual KLIXMAS Tree Lighting contests, remote broadcasts featuring KLIX personalities and the unforgettable KLIX KLUCKER, March of Dimes Walkathons, Paint Magic, the Twin Falls County Fair, country music concerts, and plenty of free popcorn during the Buhl Sagebrush Days Parade.

Charlie was a Rotary Club member and active in Boy Scouts while his son Ted earned his Eagle. He spent many volunteer hours at pancake suppers, outings, and as scoutmaster.

Charlie had a special love for miniatures. In his family room he created a miniature train layout with little houses, trees, bridges, locomotives, and box cars that went round and round and switched tracks. He also bought a doll house for his daughter Emily, which he handmade most of the miniature furniture, and even laid a miniature wood floor, plank by plank, and a shingled roof, shingle by shingle.

Charlie loved toys and was able to provide many for himself, his wife and children (subsequently the neighborhood friends too). He had a luxury Chevy van that pulled a pop-up, StarCrafttenter, and a boat, which he inherited from his father-in-law, a hot tub, trampoline, a fort house built in the back yard, 3-wheelers, 2-wheelers and eventually a small collection of cars!

The Tuma family set out on the open road for trips to Nebraska to visit family often, with stops in Yellowstone of course, as well as many a camping trip to the Sawtooth National Forest north of Twin Falls, Idaho. He also provided a few camping trips to California and took his family to Disneyland, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Hearst Castle, and many other sites. Of course, there were adventurous stops in Las Vegas at Circus Circus!

Many years later, being retired, Charlie still provided entertainment for his grandson, Jaden, in the form of technology. Many hours were spent on Charlie's lap pushing buttons on a keyboard or a mouse at the computer screen learning how to spell, read, do math, among other things. It's no surprise that Jaden is quite adapt at technology!

A "Celebration of Life" will be held on Sunday, October 30, 2022, at:

The Olive Tree Ministry Center

338 Idaho Street East

Twin Falls, ID, 83301

Celebration starts at 1:00 p.m.

Lunch will be afterwards, and then family and guests are invited to view the spreading of Charlie's ashes at the KLIX radio tower site, located at:

3831 North 3500 East

Kimberly, ID, 83341

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Hospice Visions, Meals on Wheels (in Twin Falls, ID) or a charity of your choice.