Vic Eliason | |
---|---|
Born |
Victor Carl Eliason May 14, 1936 Fort Dodge, Iowa, U.S. |
Died | December 5, 2015 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
(aged 79)
Cause of death | Cancer |
Alma mater | Bob Jones University (honorary) |
Occupation | Clergyman, radio personality |
Years active | 1959-2011 |
Known for | VCY America Radio Network |
Spouse(s) | Freda Eliason |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) |
Oscar C. Eliason Norma Olson |
Victor Carl "Vic" Eliason (May 14, 1936 – December 5, 2015) was an American evangelical clergyman who founded the VCY America Radio Network, a conservative Christian broadcasting ministry, based in Milwaukee, along with Milwaukee television station WVCY-TV.
Victor Carl Eliason was born on May 14, 1936 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the son of lay preacher, Oscar C. Eliason, who served with the Swedish Baptist Church and the Assemblies of God, and Norma Olson (born 1911). Eliason attended Open Bible College, in Des Moines, Iowa. After serving as an associate pastor in Des Moines, Iowa, Eliason was ordained in a non-denominational church, in October 1957.
In 1959 Eliason and his wife, Freda (born February 13, 1935), moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1960, Eliason became interim director of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin chapter of Youth for Christ. In May 1961 the organization went on the air with Voice of Christian Youth, a 30-minute youth-oriented radio show over WBON-FM in Milwaukee. Soon after the ministry had expanded to a full broadcast day, resulting in 1970 in VCY purchasing WBON for $315,000 and renaming it WVCY-FM.
In 1973, Eliason led the Milwaukee Youth for Christ chapter out of the national organization, renaming it "Voice of Christian Youth." Now known as VCY America, it is a Christian broadcasting ministry based in Milwaukee. VCY currently oversees 15-20 stations mostly across the Upper Midwest, depending on the source, not including its Internet site or a 24-hour-a-day, seven days a week, television station in Milwaukee, which is WVCY-TV, launched in 1983, as well as several "translator" and "satellator" stations. VCY America also provides programming via satellite to stations around the country. The ministry is funded through listeners' and supporters' donations.