ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - KMOX reporter since September 2002, Brett Blume has died. He was 55 years old.
Blume had been facing a number of significant health challenges since February. His family informed KMOX of his death Thursday afternoon.
The last time we heard his voice on KMOX was during this interview with Carol Daniel when she visited Blume at his home. It was the same day that the station hosted the "We Bleed Blume Blood Drive" with the Red Cross near his home in Edwardsville, Ill.
His KMOX colleagues remember Blume as a hard worker, witty and avid comic book lover.
"He could do it all, he could anchor, interview and do reporting," Kevin Killeen says. "And he did it all for us.
"As a broadcaster, he talked really fast and smoothly. He never made mistakes when he was recording. He would record it in one take which annoyed me because it would take me three or four times and I sat right behind him and he would just shake his head at me for making mistakes. It was all in good fun though.
"When Brett Blume sat down to type a story he typed so fast and so hard, it sounded like Ben Hur’s horses. He galloped across the keys and was the loudest typer in the newsroom.
"He's the guy who'd just be working, working, working behind you, then all of a sudden after an hour he'd come up with this brilliant one liner or quick comeback to something someone said and we'd all be in stitches," KMOX reporter Alex Degman stated in a Facebook post. "Then he'd go back to work.
"We're really gonna miss him. All of us."
Visitation will be held at Irwin Chapel on Saturday, October 12th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A memorial service will follow immediately after.
Among the many breaking news, human-interest, political and sports stories Blume covered was the rehab of Ballwin Police Officer Michael Flamion who was paralyzed from the neck down after being shot during a routine traffic stop. You can listen to a full conversation Blume had with Flamion back in July of 2018, on the celebration of Flamion’s second "Alive Day.”
Blume was a life-long St. Louis area resident. He grew up in a north St. Louis County neighborhood that is now the site of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. His family moved to Troy, Illinois when Brett was 14. He graduated from Triad High School.
He attended SIU-Edwardsville. Shortly after receiving a Mass Communications degree in 1986, Brett began working at a series of ever-larger radio stations, bouncing around the St. Louis area and Southern Illinois.
Brett has worked in St. Louis for several years, and prior to being hired at KMOX he was a reporter for St. Louis Public Radio, KWMU.
Blume is survived by his wife, Kathy and 21-year-old son, Devin.