Tom Voinche is Loving Retirement and Enjoying Life
If you’re an Acadiana native, you know Tom Voinche. Tom is an Acadiana Broadcast legend that everyone loves and so many of us miss. He was a big part of our lives and very involved in our community until he retired. I have great memories of Tom when we judged UL’s “Paint The Town Red” for many years. He was always the life of the party. I often think about him and wonder what he was up to. He isn’t on Facebook anymore so we don’t have a way to keep up with him. That’s why I was elated when I ran into him today. We had a great visit. I was visiting someone and as I was walking to the car to leave, the neighbor yelled out to me from a distance as he was sweeping his patio area. He said, “A man’s work is never done!”. He said it with a smile and happiness in his voice. THAT voice. That oh so familiar voice. Although there was quite a distance between us, I knew exactly who it was because of his voice. I said, “Is that Tom?!” with the sun glaring in my eyes making it difficult to see. His response was “Who’s that?!” I said “It’s Jenn” as I walked closer to him. We both smiled so big immediately and hugged each other. Tom being Tom, invited me inside to visit with him and his beautiful wife, Bonnie. If you know Tom, you know that means I was in there for a while because Tom is quite the talker. He filled me in on his life, his travels, and talked about old memories. I even got to visit with Tater, his dog. For all of his fans that think about him often and wonder how he’s doing, I just want to let you know that Tom Voinche is loving retirement and enjoying life.
Tom Voinche began his broadcasting career in 1961 at KEUN in Eunice working for his father. After 32 years in radio, he moved over to television as anchor on KATC’s Good Morning Acadiana. His fun personality and silly wit combined with his very distinctive voice made him a household name in Acadiana. He had a very unique way of delivering his message and everyone loved it. After a great run and a very successful broadcasting career, Tom Voinche decided it was time to retire in 2012. He later became an instructor at UL and shared his broadcasting knowledge in the communications courses he taught.