San Diego Radio Icon Jerry Cesak Dies

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego radio icon Jerry Cesak has died, it was announced Wednesday.

Cesak, best known as "Jer" from the long-running "Jeff & Jer Showgram," died Sunday. He was 74.

Cesak, who spent nearly four decades in San Diego, was born in Maryland and received a theater degree from the University of Maryland. His career began in Washington, D.C., and took him through Baltimore, Minneapolis and Detroit, where he met his longtime radio partner and co-host, Jeff Detrow.

After successful runs in Detroit and Chicago, the duo brought their morning show to San Diego in 1988, where it became the most popular program in the city's radio history.

Throughout his career, Cesak was honored as "Personality of the Year" by Billboard Magazine and Radio and Records. In 2016, Jeff & Jer were inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Cesak retired from daily broadcasting in 2015.

"I was blessed by his love, friendship and for sure laughter, often to the point where neither of us could stop long enough to breathe," Detrow said in a tribute on Facebook. "You know how as a kid you'd laugh in inappropriate settings when you were sitting by your brother or sister? Jerry was my brother and from him I got the most rare of gifts, to be loved unconditionally.

"Jerry Cesak was a man who loved well, lived with passion and cherished his friends, his wonderful supportive listeners, all animals and most of all, Pam, the central figure in the love story he wrote with his life," he said.

Cesak is survived by his wife, Pam Cesak, and their pets Winston, Gigi, Savannah and Isabella.

Cesak was a devoted animal advocate. His family asks in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Rancho Coastal Humane Society, where he served as a board member.