JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville disc jockey Arthur Crofton, possessor of a familiar, unmistakable voice — genial and debonair, showcasing a polished English accent worn down only slightly by decades in the American South — has died, according to a Facebook post by 96.1 WEJZ where he began as a morning host in 1990. He was 72.
“To say that he will be missed is a huge understatement,” the station said. “Arthur has been hosting mornings on WEJZ for over 30 years. He entertained and informed millions of North Floridians and he loved every minute of it. Please keep his family in your prayers.”
No cause of death was announced.
Mr. Crofton, who first came to Jacksonville radio in 1978, grew up in northeast England, the son of an English father and a mother from Alabama.
In 1970, with American citizenship through his mother, he moved to New York where he worked as a mail clerk at CBS News, according to a biography on the WEJZ website.
At 19, he enrolled at his mother’s alma mater, the University of Alabama, where he majored in communication, already in love with radio. As a kid, he had listened to the BBC, but it was pirate radio — freewheeling unlicensed stations that operated on ships offshore — that made him want to become a disc jockey.
In a 2008 Times-Union interview with Charlie Patton, he told how his first radio job was at a tiny AM station, housed in a wooden shack, where he spent Sunday mornings running preachers' tapes. For that, he made all of $2 an hour.
As a student, he was a disc jockey at a local station. After a political science professor he looked up to complimented his work, he felt justified in his career choice, he told Patton.
Mr. Crofton was 26 when he came to Jacksonville in 1978, to Sunny 60. He worked at several other stations, as well as one in Washington D.C. before joining WEJZ in 1990, where his smooth English accent was a perfect fit for the morning show.
"I love that sense of human connection," he said in the 2008 story. "I like the intimacy and warmth that a radio station can offer you."
Mr. Crofton was also involved in numerous community organizations and was a familiar face — and voice — at numerous community events over the years.
Dan Scanlan, a former Times-Union reporter now reporting for WJCT public radio, once worked alongside Mr. Crofton as a fill-in news announcer on WEJZ’s morning show.
“Arthur and I had a blast doing the morning shows,” said Scanlan, who on those shows adopted the on-air name of Dan Charles. “He had his cup of tea, he had a little sausage roll sometimes on a plate ... He was a gentleman, he was a scholar, he was a true Brit. It's a major loss.”
Scanlan recently texted Mr. Crofton to find out his reaction to the closing of the King’s Head Pub in St. Augustine, where he had hosted British car shows for years.
Mr. Crofton texted back that he was in England and that he had been feeling sick, but that he planned to return home soon, Scanlan said.
Bill Berry, general manager of Renda Media, which owns WEJZ, said Mr. Crofton was home in Jacksonville when he died. That station learned of his death Wednesday morning, and paid tribute to him on its Thursday morning show, as his co-host, Yvonne Velazquez, told stories about him along with guests in the studio, such as Jim Byard, who worked for years with Mr. Crofton.
"It's been a very moving morning, a very difficult morning, but also a celebration," Berry said.
Cole Pepper, a veteran Jacksonville sports broadcaster on radio, TV and as part of the Jaguars’ broadcasting team, was a friend of Mr. Crofton. They also worked together for the Jacksonville Armada soccer club: Pepper as play-by-play announcer, Mr. Crofton as the public address announcer.
On Instagram, the Armada posted this tribute: "His voice was the heartbeat of our matches, and his legacy will forever echo through the Armada family."
Pepper said Mr. Crofton’s longevity on-air, on one channel, was remarkable. “To have earned the opportunity to work in radio that long, the way the industry has changed, is pretty impressive,” he said.
Part of his appeal, Pepper said, was his English accent, but there was more to it. “He was always so genuine,” he said. “He was a gentleman.”
Pepper was eating lunch with his daughter at the Goal Post Sandwich Shop in Avondale when he last saw Mr. Crofton, just a couple of months ago. Mr. Crofton came up to chat with them for a few minutes, where his familiar voice quickly drew the attention of other customers.
“Everybody around him, everyone, knew who he was,” Pepper said. “I’ve always said: There are a handful of voices in Jacksonville you could recognize immediately. And Arthur was one of them.”
According to his station bio, Mr. Crofton is survived by his wife, Laurie Mitchell, and his children Teresa, Craig and Lindsay, as well as four grandchildren. Funeral services have not been announced.
