Longtime KNBR news anchor and reporter Robert Lazich has passed away at age 94. His family says “Laz” had been dealing with numerous health issues but remained in good spirits. He recently spent the Christmas holiday surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
Lazich was born in 1930 in Butte, MT, where he began his radio career as a teenager. That career would include stops in Missoula, MT and Fargo, ND. Among his adventures in newsgathering was a 1959 incident in which the car he was driving to cover a chain-reaction crash in a North Dakota dust storm crashed into the other vehicles. “Laz” escaped without injuries.
He arrived in San Francisco in 1965, taking a job as a news writer at KNBR. Within months, the station moved him into an on-air position and he was a part of the KNBR news staff until it was eliminated in December 1995.
A versatile newsman, Lazich covered the Angela Davis trial in San Jose, the Patty Hearst arraignment and the Oakland Hills fire (he was called out of church to cover that story). He also kept tabs on the Zebra Killer and covered three executions.
For seven years, Lazich anchored NBC radio network nightly newscasts from San Francisco before the network moved all operations to New York City. Network listeners heard him identify himself as “Robert Lazich” while on KNBR, he used “Bob Lazich”.
Lazich was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.
Bob was the quintessential radio news announcer-reporter of the era of 1960s, 70s and 80s when local radio stations in the bay area featured staffs of at least 5 people. It was a great pleasure to work with LAZ, who I so admired and respected. And it was special to not only work with the guy but become a casual friend. We occasionally would go out to dinner during breaks. at KNBR when we were carrying a Giants or Warriors road game. LAZ was a great storyteller and had a wonderful sense of humor. Bob always had a twinkle in its eye and was one of the nicest people i waa lucky enoigh to meet in our zaby business. We had a phone conversation of about 20 minutes last year and it was good to catch up with him. Although I know he was not in great shape, he was his usual lighthearted swlf with plenty of jokes at the ready. .RIP LAZ! WE’RE GONNA MISS YA! Yoir friend Bruce Macgowan