Kevin A. Keenan, who started his radio career in Olean as a teenager 50 years ago, will be inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame on Sept. 10.

The Olean native is among the BBA Class of 2025, which includes Buffalo Sabres television color analyst Rob Ray, WGRZ anchor Mary Alice Demler and Jericka Duncan, national correspondent and “CBS Weekend News” anchor.

A graduate of St. Mary of the Angels Parochial School, Olean High School and St. Bonaventure University, Kevin began his radio career as a sophomore in high school when he, his cousin, Tim Keenan, and Kevin Kenyan (members of the OHS Class of 1978), launched “The Husky Half” on WMNS (1360 AM).

He landed an on-air position at the station before moving on to WHDL (1450 AM) where he was a disc jockey. During his senior year at St. Bonaventure, Kevin was Doug Bushnell’s morning newsman. A former Olean Times Herald carrier, Kevin also worked at WHAM (1180 AM) in Rochester before spending 16 years at WBEN (930 AM) in Buffalo, where he was a news anchor, airborne traffic reporter, host of the Buffalo Bills post-game show and talk show host.

While on air Kevin had a number of management roles including news director, program director and operations manager. He also worked as a weekend sports anchor at WORK-TV in Rochester.

In 2000, he transitioned into public relations becoming the first lay person to serve as director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“Growing up in Olean gave me a tremendous advantage,” says Kevin, who in 2018 was added to the Olean City School District Wall of Honor. “I was able to work in local radio as a teenager gaining incredible experience. I had great mentors, in school and in broadcasting, who helped guide me.

“I am grateful to the many people who said ‘yes’ to me on my journey.”

In 2012, Kevin founded Buffalo-based Keenan Communications Group, a public relations and crisis communications firm that includes among its clients town governments, religious orders and the world-famous tourist attraction Maid of the Mist in Niagara Falls. His business partners include Anthony Masiello, former mayor of Buffalo.

Kevin, a son of the late Ann and Leo Keenan, was the youngest of nine children. (Leo Keenan, a professor of English at St. Bonaventure for more than half a century, also coached SBU golf from 1967-87 and is a 1993 inductee to the St. Bonaventure Athletic Hall of Fame.)

Kevin and his wife, Deborah, live in the town of Tonawanda. Their son, Connor, earned his master’s degree from St. Bonaventure and works in marketing at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens.