Phil Lerza was a native San Franciscan whose entree to broadcasting was via Armed Forces Radio. Following his service in the Navy, Lerza landed at KFRC in 1969 and would spend the rest of his career with those call letters, ending with KFRC-FM (106.9) under CBS ownership.
He was deeply respected by other broadcast engineers as well as performers, who all recalled Phil Lerza as highly professional, immensely talented, and very friendly.
Phil Lerza died in 2012 at age 67.