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Who's the most popular, trusted, even beloved person in High Point?

If you took a poll of residents, some might say Becky Smothers, the longtime mayor and plucky cancer survivor. Others might mention opera star Tony Griffey, who often lends his tremendous talent to charitable causes. Still others might give a nod to Nido Qubein, the boundlessly energetic president of booming High Point University.

But the winner, hands down, would be Max Meeks, the voice of morning radio in High Point.

Remarkably, the same would have been true 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, even 40 years ago.

In fact, it's been more than 62 years since Meeks' voice was first broadcast over High Point's mainstay AM station, WMFR 1230.

His last "Max in the Morning" program will be Jan. 1. At 84, he's decided to retire.

"After 50 years of getting up at 3 in the morning, I didn't know if I could get through another winter," Meeks said Monday.

He announced his decision last week. The frosty weather since then reinforced it, said Nancy Meeks, his wife of 63 years.

"When he had to scrape the ice off the windshield and the car door was frozen shut, he said that's one of the reasons he's retiring," she said.

All the winters Meeks did that to arrive at work while most people are still snug in their beds speaks to a passion for the job. But a career in broadcasting was never what Meeks planned: "I was heading in a different direction. I just fell into it."

He was a World War II Navy veteran studying history at High Point College in 1947. "My goal was to teach history at a small college," he said.

An interest in theater drew him to a project of the High Point Junior League, which produced original plays for broadcast. WMFR station owner Frank Lambeth noticed. He called Meeks, asking him if he'd fill in on the air for a couple of weeks that summer. Meeks agreed and ended up staying.

"I made some terrible mistakes," he said of his early days. But the business "really grew on me."

Until a scandal in the industry led him to leave.

Record promoters went from station to station offering "payola" for air time: "jewelry to booze to trips, all kinds of things," Meeks recalled. "The bigger the station, the greater the loot. I just got disenchanted."

He tried his hand in the furniture business, but only for a few years. He wasn't happy. When Lambeth asked him to return, he agreed and soon discovered "this is where God intended me to be. This is what I was designed to do."

He's done it with a folksy, personal touch, as if he's chatting among friends. The "Max in the Morning" program, airing from 5:30 to 8, is a throwback to an earlier era. He lists birthdays, promotes a concert at a local church, encourages listeners to support a blood drive. There are news and weather reports, lots of commercials and songs that probably never came close to the Top 40. It's maybe corny but comfortable.

Meeks said he's never thought about ratings or competing with other programs. His target audience is a family getting up in the morning, "the kids getting ready for school, the parents getting ready to go to work, just telling them about some things I think they would want to know."

Maybe that's not the industry's usual formula for success, but Meeks has made it through seven ownership changes, and each time the new bosses "have told me just keep doing what you're doing."

Meeks is so averse to the ego-driven antics of some radio personalities that for years he never even gave his name on the air. That changed only when a station manager told him he had to identify himself.

For many listeners, that wasn't necessary. Meeks has always been visible in the community, supporting countless good causes.

Yet, modestly, his celebrity still surprises him -- as when a retail clerk cashed his check recently without asking to see ID. She recognized him by his voice.

High Pointers will miss that familiar, friendly, trusted voice.

I asked what he hopes listeners will remember about him. He paused a long time on the answer -- a serious lapse for a radio man.

Finally: "I would like to think they'd say, 'We could believe in him and what he said.' "

Yes, High Point listeners have relied on Max Meeks for decades. He's still No. 1.

Contact Doug Clark at dgclark@news-record.com and 373-7039.