Jud Ashmore, known for his long-time work in San Antonio TV and radio and for the phrase "Hug somebody. It'll make you feel good," has died at the age of 101.
Ashmore, who achieved legendary status during his time at KSAT12, KENS 5, KBUC, and WOAI, went to college in 1946 and graduated just in time to be swept into the Korean War in 1950. He joined the U.S. Air Force as a meteorologist and retired in 1968 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Just two days later, he joined the KSAT 12 San Antonio news team.
Within weeks, Ashmore was also reporting the weather on KITE Radio, working alongside radio legends Ricci Ware and Paul Allen English. Radio, he later said, was a dream come true. Television was fine, but it didn’t compare.
In 1970, Ashmore left San Antonio to work in radio and television in Indianapolis and later San Francisco. While both were major markets, they never felt like home.
At the first opportunity, he returned to San Antonio in 1972 to become chief meteorologist at KENS 5. While with KENS, Ashmore published a book called "Texas Weather."
Two years later, Ashmore reunited with Ricci Ware for a morning show on KBUC Radio. He joked that the duo had the market cornered on “B.S. and romance.”
CORRECTION: KVUE Austin's Bob Buckalew let me know that Ashmore was let go by KENS in 1974 and joined KSAT that same year.
By 1980, balancing late nights on TV with early mornings on KBUC had become exhausting. The decision between television and radio, he said, was no contest. Radio was more fun—and more profitable.
Ashmore left KENS in 1980 and stayed with KBUC until the station was sold in 1986. That same year, he joined powerhouse News Radio 1200 WOAI, where he delivered weather reports until 2002.
After two years of what he called “fake retirement,” Ashmore returned to the airwaves at KRNH in Kerrville.
He officially ended his career in 2012, though never his love affair with radio.
Ashmore is a 2017 inductee of the San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame and a 2024 inductee in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
