‘I have been blessed and highly favored’
Nelson to retire from Sunday radio show
TEXARKANA — Pioneering local educator and longtime broadcast personality Donald Nelson will retire from his Sunday radio show on KTOY.
Nelson, 83, told colleagues at the Tex ark ana Radio Center on Wednesday that he started thinking about retirement a few months ago. LaMoya Burks will follow Nelson as co-host of the Sunday Show, joining Phillip O’Donald.
“Now is the time. It’s been a great season, and a great run — thanks to other people. When I was principal of Arkansas High School, I had 108 members of faculty, and those were great years because of them. It was not anything that I did.
“The same thing happened here with the radio show. I started over at College Drive meeting Billy Bland, DD Woods and Derrick McGary. At the time, I had no idea I would
one day host a radio show. I was just a guy who showed up to talk sometimes on a Sunday crosstalk show,” he said.
Nelson spent 37 years as one of the highest-profile African American educators in Texarkana and the region, working as a teacher and administrator with Texarkana Arkansas School District.
He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School on the Arkansas side in 1954. He was a high school senior in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, integrating public schools. He then went on to several colleges, including AM&NPine Bluff, before finishing with a master’s degree from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
DD Woods, on-air personality for KTOY and KTOY Gospel, said she will miss Nelson and his insight into what is happening in the community and around the world.
“Mr. Nelson, the work you have done with the Sunday Show was not in vain, and LaMoya, Derrick, Phillip and I will continue to bring the issues to the community — both sides of the issues,” Woods said
Texarkana, Texas, Mayor Bob Bruggeman passed along his gratitude.
“I want to congratulate Mr. Nelson on his upcoming retirement and thank him for his many years of service keeping our citizens informed on important issues by way of the local airwaves on KTOY radio,” Bruggeman said.
Texarkana, Arkansas, Mayor Allen Brown also spoke with thanks for Nelson and his contributions to Texarkana.
“He has been an icon for our city in both radio and in education. He has touched many lives for which he can be very proud for making a difference. His dedication has always been top notch, and I wish him much success in his retirement,” Brown said.
Nelson said he is not afraid to share his age.
“Zero to 70 is a blessing, but after 70 you are no longer just blessed, you are also highly favored,” he said. “And I have been blessed and highly favored.”