The smooth, calming voice. The happy disc jockey. The state representative who took his constituents' concerns seriously. The member or officer of more than 40 local organizations. The dedicated husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Butler County must now move forward without these attributes, as local icon Guy Travaglio has died at age 93.

Travaglio, who died Saturday surrounded by his large family, made good use of his time on Earth, with most of it spent serving the community he loved.

Travaglio was a radio personality at WBUT from 1962 to 1980, where he was a salesman and host of the “Guy Travaglio Phone Party.” Travaglio and Larry Berg co-owned the radio station from 1973 until 1978, when the station was sold.

Older county residents will remember the radio shows Travaglio hosted, including “Guy's Pepsi Pops and Tops,” “The Morning After Gang” and a country program.

He continued his radio career, including his popular “Phone Party” show at WISR, becoming the station's general manager and sales manager until retiring in 1993.

Travaglio also was affiliated with more than 40 local organizations as a member or officer, including the county Chamber of Commerce, city Redevelopment Authority, Community Development Corporation of Butler County, Downtown Business Association, Butler Area Agency on Aging and many more.

Civic service was important to Travaglio, a Democrat who served on Butler City Council from 1966 to 1970, and as state representative of the 11th Legislative District, elected in 1994 and serving through 2004.

Travaglio also served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947.

“He was a remarkable community servant,” Berg said of his friend and former business partner. “He really enriched the community because he served so well.”

He was a hit

Berg said the “Guy Travaglio Phone Party” was one of the most popular programs on the airwaves in Butler, and that was largely because of Travaglio's demeanor and genuine love for friends as well as strangers.

“He was always happy and always smiling and always making people feel good,” Berg said. “He was so upbeat — always positive and optimistic — and I never heard him say a bad word about anybody.”

Travaglio was also a popular disc jockey in Butler and played songs from his huge record collection for decades in many venues.

One regular DJ gig of Travaglio's was at the Tumble Inn teen dances at the Butler Cubs Hall in the 1960s and early '70s.

Karen Smaretsky Vavro of Butler recalls Travaglio's caring, inclusive nature with the teens that poured in every Friday night to dance to the popular tunes of the day.

She recalls the teens sharing their relationship problems or happy events with Travaglio, who always listened carefully.

“He was like everyone's Dad,” Vavro said. “He had a hug for everybody.”

She said kids arriving at Tumble Inn would rush up to the DJ booth to say hello to Travaglio or request a song.

“He was always very patient with us, and he had a smile on his face nonstop,” Vavro recalled. “I just loved Guy dearly and I have memories of him that I will always carry with me.”

She said he was also a very talented, professional DJ.

“He had a voice that was amazing,” Vavro said. “The perfect radio and DJ voice.”

Good partner, good friend

Travaglio's wife of 54 years, Bonnie Travaglio, is heartbroken over the loss of her partner of more than five decades.

She said her husband had been in bad shape for the last several months and had recently stopped communicating.

Bonnie said a nun who was aware of Travaglio's condition had notified a priest that he should visit the lifelong Catholic as his health rapidly deteriorated.

“The priest sat down beside him, and Guy talked to him for 45 minutes, and his voice sounded like his radio voice,” Bonnie said. “It was a great day.”

She and Guy met when she began helping to care for his five children after the death of his first wife, Jean, in a car accident.

Her sisters asked her to help, as Guy was ill and unable to care for them.

“So I did, and I never left,” Bonnie said.

She echoed a common theme among those remembering Travaglio on Sunday.

“He loves people,” Bonnie said. “He loves this community and when he was on the radio, everyone listened to him.”

A servant of the people

Regarding his decade as a state representative, Bonnie said his slogan was “Always helping people.”

She said Travaglio was not jaded by his time in Harrisburg, and he always asked his constituents what he could do for them and what issues he could take to the state capitol on their behalf.

“People said 'Guy went to Harrisburg as a good man and he left as a good man,'” Bonnie said.

He retired from the House of Representatives at age 78, she said.

“When he left office, he said the thing he would miss the most was somebody coming in with a problem,” Bonnie said. “That's what Guy wanted. He always wanted to help people.”

She said in addition to entertaining and informing thousands, Travaglio also used his status as a radio personality to raise money for UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

“He was one of a kind,” Bonnie said.

She said he also took charge of the Spirit of Christmas Parade and Ethnic Festival in downtown Butler for 30 years.

Regarding his career as a DJ in and around the county, Bonnie said he did it as a labor of love and hosted his last event in 2017 at age 91.

She said he played music for the residents at Sunnyview and for seniors at the Tanglewood Center, among hundreds of other gigs that were largely charitable.

“I just want everyone to know he was so wonderful,” said Bonnie. “He had a heart as big as all outdoors. He did what he could for everybody.”

A true gentleman

Paul Wambach was a staffer at the House of Representatives whose office was 10 feet away from Travaglio's. The two quickly struck up a fast friendship, as Travaglio knew Wambach's father was a radio personality in eastern Pennsylvania.

“Guy was such a kind, warm, wonderful person who believed in serving common people, of which he was certainly one,” Wambach said. “Every morning we would see each other and hug; he was that kind of a warm person.”

He said he learned to be a better listener from Travaglio, who truly listened when people talked instead of thinking of what he was going to say next.

“You were the most important thing in his life when you were with him,” Wambach said. “Even though he was bigger than life on the radio, the biggest impact he had on me was the fact that he listened.”

As a representative, Wambach said Guy possessed a trait sometimes missing among those in office and in the general population.

“The biggest thing Guy brought to the table in anything he did (in Harrisburg) was common sense,” Wambach said. “And he had the pulse of the common person.”

Ron Vodenichar, the Butler Eagle's publisher and a friend of Travaglio's, said he was saddened to hear the news of his death.

“Guy was a good friend and an outstanding community leader,” Vodenichar said. “He was one of the first to welcome me to the community 30 years ago and to encourage me to become active in local activities, including the Chamber of Commerce.”

Vodenichar agreed with Wambach that Travaglio was an excellent state representative.

“He was a citizen, not a politician,” Vodenichar said. “A true gentleman.”

Wambach summed up the feelings of all who knew and loved the late Guy Travaglio.

“He was just a really good man who cared about everyone,” Wambach said.