HIRSCH LEAVES A LEGACY OF INVENTION, GENEROSITY

Being an American doesn't assure any citizen of greatness ... what it does is provide an opportunity to have dreams and, with certain degrees of talent, luck and backbone, see them realized. No greater testament to that exists than the life of Oscar C. Hirsch, a man who wasn't afraid to dream big and work hard. Hirsch died Monday in Cape Girardeau, the city he enriched. The example he set stays with us.

The name Hirsch is synon~ymous with the word broadcasting in this region. It doesn't stop there. Oscar Hirsch can be linked with so many more laudatory descriptions: entrepreneur, innovator, philanthropist, gentleman, civic leader. His achievements and activities contributed greatly to this community, not only with his broadcasting ventures but through devotion to numerous charitable endeavors.

His beginnings were the same as many of our own. He was educated in the public school system in Cape Girardeau and attended the Normal College here. After learning the ways of wireless radios in France during World War I and studying electronics more formally at American institutions, Hirsch built a radio transmitter in 1925 and gained federal approval to start Cape Girardeau's first radio station. His radio enterprises eventually spread to four other cities in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. In 1954, he secured a license for the first television station in the region, KFVS.

Never content to rest of his laurels or let new technology go untried, Hirsch continually sought to improve his busi~nesses. In 1960, he commissioned the construction of a transmitting tower that, at 1,676 feet, was the tallest structure in the world for a time. Eight years later, he sanctioned the building of a high-rise structure on Broadway to house his television studio. The KFVS building remains an imposing structure and a landmark in downtown Cape Girardeau.

His entrepreneurial instincts were matched by a courage to see them through. Hirsch was one of the first in the region to fly his own airplane to keep up with far-flung business interests. Long before cable television became common to households, he recognized the significance this new technology would have on "free" stations. His eyes were ever turned to the future of broadcasting.

Assertive as he was in his industry, Hirsch set aside plenty of time for helping others. His contributions to the Salvation Army, the Cape Girardeau Public Library, Southeast Missouri Hospital, United Cerebral Palsy, First Presbyterian Church and other entities would be hard for any individual to match.

During a lifetime of achievement, Oscar Hirsch won a bounty of accolades, both personal and professional. With his death at age 96, he will be remembered as a generous man who was not intimidated by the grandness of his ideas.