The man synonymous with the voice termed as ‘bigger than life’ will be laid to rest on Wednesday. Joseph “Joe” LeTendre will long be remembered of the voice of radio and the Murray County Speedway.
He was born in Cass Lake, Minnesota on September 24, 1938 and moved to Austin, MN at the young age of two. LeTendre graduated from St. Augustine High School in 1956 then Austin Community College in 1958 and St. Thomas College in 1960.
Joe and Rosemary (Collins) were married on December 28, 1960. They moved to Brewster where Joe taught junior high social studies and was the high school librarian. Over the following summers, Joe attended Mankato State University obtaining his Library Science degree. In 1965 Joe became the elementary librarian in Slayton, Minnesota. He always made the children’s trips to the library memorable sharing stories and making every character come alive with a voice that could be happy one moment, angry the next, and then crying on the following page. Joe also coached fifth and sixth grade boys’ basketball and was an assistant track coach. Additionally, Joe spent 20 years teaching gun training.
In 1977 Joe decided to take a leap of faith and made a career change. His gift of gab boded well as Joe used his voice broadcasting for Christensen Broadcasting as their on-air personality in their Slayton location as well as sales. Later the AM station was renamed to KJOE Radio after the voice of the airways.
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