One of WHUD's longest running Monday thru Saturday early morning features has come to an end due to the death of the host.

Although he never said his name, the voice of Dr. Paul Devantier was recognized by many listeners who were early risers since "By The Way" aired at 4:25am for decades. His soothing voice brought inspiring messages of hope and the love of God. Although he died late last year, By The Way continued to air on WHUD until last Friday, when his veteran engineer revealed his passing. Then his son John voiced the final show last Saturday.

As someone who listens to WHUD on my drive to work every morning, I always found By The Way to be refreshing and uplifting with a soft-spoken host I had never met or talked to. I didn't know his name either ...until I read this on the By The Way website:

The Rev. Dr. Paul Walter Devantier, former executive director of Communications for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), died on Nov. 30. He was 79.

Devantier was a native of Wausau, Wis. At the time of his death, he had been married to Ellen (Stapel) Devantier for 55 years. The Devantiers were blessed with five children and, over the course of their marriage, cared for more than 80 foster children.....12 grandchildren too.

I will miss that special 60 second message that so many of us looked forward to every early morning on 100.7 WHUD.