Longtime Triangle deejay dies at 58

Jay Butler, a longtime on-air fixture on Triangle radio stations, died Sunday night at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. He was 58 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer five weeks earlier.

Butler died "with a smile on his face," said his widow, Aletha Chrietzberg.

He was a deejay at a number of local stations over the past three decades, including WKIX, G-105 and WRAL. He also did commercials and voice work for broadcasts of N.C. State Wolfpack football games.

But Butler's highest-profile stint was with country station WQDR, where he spent nearly two decades doing everything from program director to morning-show co-host.

"We did the morning show together through the '90s, and we had a blast," said Mike Wheless, Butler's on-air partner at WQDR. "I used to call him 'Old Fezziwig,' after the fat guy Scrooge used to work for before he became mean. Jay was a big man - 6-foot-7-inches and 300 pounds - and he looked and acted tough. But he had the biggest heart, and one of the best voices in the area."

Butler is survived by his widow and two children, 14-year-old Laura Caitlyn and 12-year-old Christian Cody. Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, with funeral services set for 1 p.m. Friday, both at Fuquay-Varina Baptist Church.