Doug Gillen, 72, oversaw every aspect of KISS 105.3, Gainesville’s hit music station, for nearly 40 years before he died in early February.

Family, friends and colleagues gathered at Gator’s Dockside in Jonesville to remember Gillen on Wednesday, sharing stories about the radio owner.

Gillen bought KISS and 98.9 JAMZ in 1987. But he stayed off the air, busy working on the business side needed to stay live. He was the wizard behind the current and let the station take the credit, Robbie Sparks, afternoon DJ for KISS, said.

Brett Douglas, a DJ for the station for over 21 years, said Gillen took a chance on him without any radio experience and without a typical “radio voice.”

“It’s been one of the best honors of my life to work for him,” Douglas said.

Douglas was hired by KISS to drive the boom box. He worked weekends and nights at the time and never saw Gillen at the office for several months. Plus, he’d accidentally mislabeled another employee, who had been hired at around the same time, as Gillen.

Then they finally met.

“He came up to me very friendly. He introduced himself, so I was blown away,” Douglas recalled.

Gainesville business owners got to know Gillen as he helped them advertise and grow clients.

Brian Hood, former owner of David’s BBQ, said the radio station was Gillen’s life. The two met when Hood advertised with the station, and any business that closed, Hood said Gillen would shake his head and say, “They didn’t advertise on KISS 105.”

“That was one of his mantras,” Hood recalled. “He lived and breathed KISS 105.”

The families grew close, and Hood used to dress up as Santa for Gillen’s children.

“I’d come over knocking on the door and freak them out,” Hood said.

Paul Mandeville, owner of Gainesville Locksmith, met Gillen in the late 1980s. Their business acquaintance changed as both their kids attended Oak Hall School together. Mandeville said the two became hunting buddies, from deer to small game and feral pigs.

“Doug was a very generous person. Probably one of the most generous people I know,” Mandeville said.

When his niece needed rehabilitation after a car accident, Mandeville said Gillen sent the KISS boom box to a fundraiser with a live feed to bolster the event.

The boom box has been a staple of KISS 105.3 for decades and started shortly after Gillen bought the station. Back then, the station aired on 105.5 FM, and Jeri Banta already worked there as a DJ when the purchase happened.

Banta said Gillen asked what he would do for the station if all restrictions were gone.

He thought and replied that he’d buy one of the new mobile boom boxes. He said the cost was crazy expensive at the time, but Gillen looked at the product and agreed.

“To me at the time, it was a really impressive start for a new owner to say, ‘hey, we’re not going to tell you what to do. We want to know what you want to do,’” Banta said.

Banta said Gillen worked hard to make sure the business worked. Sparks said sitting down to daily tasks beside Gillen gave him confidence to do his job. There was no obstacle he’d run into that he couldn’t turn to Gillen to get resolved.

“The confidence that it gives you, and it’s like, ‘I can handle any situation. The owner is sitting right here,’” Sparks said.

Gillen is survived by his wife, Terrie, and two children, Ashley and John.

Gillen Broadcasting released the following after his death:

“For nearly 40 years Doug was quietly a pillar of our local community, preferring to stand behind the spotlight of his DJs. A philanthropist at heart who freely gave to raise awareness to local charities. Yet no one could have done more to support local businesses in our area and take such joy in seeing them thrive.”