Jimmy Earl “Joe” Woodard (1935) was born in Calhoun County, Alabama and grew up in Southside near Gadsden. He graduated from Southside High School in 1954 and immediately joined the Army. He is a veteran of the Korean War where he served in the 24th Infantry Division, 21st Regiment.

When Woodard returned from a complete tour of duty in Korea in 1956, he attended the Tennessee School of Broadcasting. He graduated and began his broadcasting career. Joe worked at stations in Shelbyville, Tennessee; LaGrange, Georgia; Baxley, Georgia; and, then worked for Charley Bowman at WGAD in Gadsden.

In 1962, Mr. Woodard moved to Talladega to manage Bowman’s WEYY AM. He eventually bought the station. Woodard and his wife Geraldine were granted a construction permit for the first commercial FM station licensed to Talladega and WHTB was launched in 1972. In 1985, he moved WEYY-AM to Oxford and changed WHTB’s (still in Talladega) to WEYY-FM call letters to match its sister AM. They launched a new FM, WKFN in 1990. Woodard sold WEYY-FM in 1992. In the mid 1990s, the Woodards changed both sets of call letters to WVOK.

WVOK-FM is recognized as one of the only radio stations in Alabama to remain on the air during the “Storm of the Century” in 1993. The station received honors from the city of Oxford, former Alabama Governor Guy Hunt and others for keeping the station on the air through the duration of the storm.

Woodard is now retired, filling his days with gardening, grass cutting and bird hunting. Joe Woodard and his wife Geraldine (Stone) have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Chuck and Jim; and, three grandchildren, Jimmy, Timmy and Zac.