William J. Heizer passed away on November 3, 2025 in Natick, MA after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was a beloved husband, father, brother and grandfather.
Bill was born in Manchester, NH on June 30, 1944 and married his true love, Francine Fournier, in 1967. Bill was laid back, funny and loving. He spent most of his life in New Hampshire where he and Francine raised two daughters, Jennifer and Jessica. He was a scratch golfer, avid sports fan and chart-topping radio personality.
Bill attended Nashua High School (class of 1962) where he was captain of the school’s golf team. His yearbook legend said he hoped to go to broadcasting school and become a sportscaster. A graduate of Leland Powers School of Radio and Television, Northern Essex Community College and Suffolk University, Bill’s career in broadcasting spanned three decades. He was well known as Brother Bill at WKOX FM in Framingham, and later as J. William Charles when WKOX rebranded as WVBF. He later freelanced as a voice talent and served in the United States Postal Service for more than 20 years.
Throughout his broadcasting career, Bill was known for his warmth, versatility and on-air talent. He achieved top rankings from the American Research Bureau (ARB) and Billboard Magazine as well as four gold records.
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- 1963-1967 WOTW (Nashua)
- 1967-1968 Merrimack Valley Cable Television – Channel 13 (Nashua)
- 1968 WCAP (Lowell)
- 1969-1973 WVBF/WKOX (Framingham/Boston)
- 1973-1976 WFYR (Chicago) and WAXY (Fort Lauderdale)
- 1976-1978 WACQ and WTTK (Lexington/Boston)
- 1978-1985 WHUE (Boston)
- 1985-1986 WLKZ (Wolfeboro)
- 1987-1988 WJIB (Boston)
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He was profiled by the Boston Globe in 1978 as “Radio’s One-Man Band”, able to balance roles as operations manager, program director and on-air personality for both WACQ-AM and WTTK-FM. No wonder management at Schering-Plough viewed Bill as being one of the best programmers they knew, keeping him on through multiple format changes.
From 1985-86 Bill made the long, daily commute from Merrimack to Wolfeboro when he did morning drive at WLKZ. WLKZ colleague Denise Vozella recalled Bill being “a sweet, kind man and trusted colleague” while Gene Paul Gerry who worked with Bill at WJIB remembers him as “a very good talent and an equally fine person.” David Allan Boucher shared “I always knew of his work, and I got to interview with him at WACQ…I remember what a nice demeanor he had for this young, hopeful DJ.”
Bill was predeceased by his wife, parents and granddaughter Brooklyn Gridley. He is survived by his two daughters Jessica Heizer and Jennifer Gridley, Jennifer’s husband, Billy Gridley, and their son Charlie Gridley, as well as his brother Don Heizer and Don’s wife Cindy. His obituary is available here.
There are no calling hours. A remembrance service will take place on Saturday, December 20 from 9:00-10:00am at Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory at 1799 Elm St., Manchester. The family requests that instead of flowers, donations in memory of William Heizer be made to the Alzheimer’s Association online by clicking here or by mail to:
Alzheimer’s Association MA/NH
320 Nevada St. Suite 201
Newton, MA 02460
*Please note William Heizer’s name on your donation
Submitted by the family.