KLVL 1480 AM Radio

A History of Service to the Hispanic Community

FELIX HESSBROOK MORALES (1907-1988). Felix Morales, entrepreneur, radio personality, civic leader and one of ten children, was born on May 27, 1907, in New Braunfels, Texas. He attended racially segregated schools for most of his childhood. Following the death of his father, Morales contributed to the family’s income by working as a shoe-shine boy and selling newspapers. In his teens, he moved to San Antonio, where he delivered newspapers for the San Antonio Light and worked at his brother Andrew’s funeral home.  He also managed his own six-cab taxi business. On March 12, 1928, he married Angeline ‘Angie’ Vera in San Antonio. They had one son. In 1931 the family moved to Houston, and with a $150 loan from his brother opened his first funeral home in Houston’s Second Ward. The first years were difficult because of the Great Depression.  The Morales Funeral Home donated services to many poor families in the area. Unable to purchase the equipment he needed, Morales built caskets himself, and Angie spent hours sewing clothes for the deceased. After the depression, the funeral home was moved to new, expanded facilities which included ten acres of land for a cemetery. The business grew to become Houston’s leading provider of funeral services for the Hispanic community.

At last financially secure, Felix moved forward in fulfilling a dream of owning a radio station. He had previously produced his own show at a station in San Antonio. He purchased time from Houston station KXYZ, produced Spanish language programming and sold commercials to advertisers.  Beginning with one hour from eleven to twelve each Saturday night, the program became so popular that it was expanded to a nightly program of news, interviews. Often when musical groups failed to arrive for their scheduled performances, Felix picked up a guitar and played himself.  It all ended when FCC ruled that radio stations could not sublet time to outside purchasers, and so in 1942 Morales applied for a permit to operate his own station. Though he applied for the station in 1942, World War II and its aftermath delayed Morales’ application until 1950. The station, KLVL-AM, licensed to Pasadena, officially went on the air on May 5, 1950, to celebrate both the Cinco de Mayo and Angie’s birthday.  It  was an instant success with Hispanic listeners and a legend was born.

Radio Station KLVL, “La Voz Latina,” was the first Spanish-language radio station to cover news for the Gulf Coast area and soon established a reputation for community service. Apart from various news, education, and music programs, KLVL produced such programs as “Yo necesito trabajo” (“I need a job”); during which unemployed persons called in and received job referrals. Angie Morales produced a program entitled “Que Dios se lo pague” (“May God reward you”) in which she asked her listeners to assist needy cases in the community. Following a devastating flood in the lower Rio Grande in 1954, KLVL collected more than $10,000 and eight carloads of food and clothing to help victims of the flood, prompting one man, Juan Francisco Hernandez, to write a corrido in honor of the Morales family and KLVL. Because of its commitment to service in the community, the station was dubbed “la madre de los Mexicanos.”

Catering to Houston’s large and diverse Hispanic community, KLVL broadcast news and music from all over the Americas. Immensely popular were the daily radionovelas, or soap operas, as well as the dramatizations of historical events. The station also sponsored top stage shows from Mexico, which played at the Music Hall and Coliseum. Local social and civic clubs, such as the Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello and the various sociedades mutualistas,  advertised their news and social events on KLVL, as did schools and sports teams. Each day at noon, the programming was momentarily silenced so that Father Patricio Flores, later archbishop of San Antonio, could offer a prayer for peace. The Morales family also operated KLVL-FM and in 1978 they launched San Antonio’s first bilingual station, KFHM - FM at the market. The station, also known as “Big M” or “La Voz del Mercado,”   His radio stations served as his gift of faith and culture to the Hispanic community and though the FM stations were eventually sold, KLVL AM was his true love and remained his until death. Following his passing in 1988, an elementary school in Pasadena was named for him in 1991.

Beginning with founder Felix Morales, a legacy of service and dedication to teaching God’s saving grace has continued uninterrupted on KLVL for more than 50 years. Today, that mission of faith is carried on through the work of William Rivas and Radio Triunfo - KLVL.  With a huge audience among its “family” of believers,  Houston’s premier Spanish Language Christian radio station, KLVL presents uplifting teaching and music programming seven days a week.  In September, 2008, KLVL expanded coverage to the entire market with full market coverage of 5000 watts.  KLVL now provides coverage to more than 4.5 million people and the Radio Triunfo family includes all of the Houston metropolitan area.