Warren Bolthouse
Family Life Radio Founder Warren Bolthouse died at his home in Tucson on Monday, Oct. 12.
Warren was 88 and was preceded in death by his wife, Char, in 2007.
Born in Grand Rapids, Mi., Warren spent 30 years building the ministry of Family Life Radio and dedicated more than 50 years of his life to reaching others with the life-changing message of Christ.
He and Char met as teenagers while singing and traveling with Children’s Bible Hour. They married in 1947. From there, Warren and Char were called to be involved as music ministers, assistant pastors or youth directors for ministries in Pontiac and Detroit, Mi., and Buffalo, N.Y. In the midst of this pastoral work, the couple had a dream of one day seeing non-commercial Christian radio in every home.
Warren and Char took their five children and moved back to Michigan, to settle in the Jackson area. It was there and then that the dream of Christian radio started to come alive.
Family Life Radio was born in the basement studio of the Bolthouse home, a clapboard house on Jericho Road, with a 30-minute radio program. That program expanded, airtime was given and soon – Family Life Radio’s first station was on the air in Mason, Michigan in 1966.
Over the course of 30 years under Warren’s leadership, Family Life Radio grew into a nationwide radio network with radio stations, translators, educational ministries and the flagship program now known as Intentional Living with Dr. Randy Carlson. Now, nearly 50 years later, Family Life Radio covers over 16 million people in 40 cities and countless others online and through mobile streaming.
Warren and Char Bolthouse raised up the ministry of Family Life Radio, but they would surely tell you that their greatest blessing was raising their family. Jan, Donna David, Jim (and daughter Cheri, who passed away in 2011), their spouses, 11 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren are the living legacy that Warren leaves behind today. For more information on Family Life Radio and Warren Bolthouse, visit myFLR.org.