History
KLRF 88.5 FM — A Story of Faith, Vision, and God's Providence
Celebrating 25 Years of the “Sounds of Hope”
KLRF 88.5 FM — A Story of Faith, Vision, and God’s Providence
December 2025, KLRF 88.5 FM marks a special milestone: 25 years of broadcasting hope to the Walla Walla Valley and beyond. But the journey didn’t start with a studio or a tower. It began with a vision—and a handful of people willing to follow where God led.
A Dream is Planted
In the late 1990s, Paul Moore, Sr., then working with LifeTalk Radio in Yakima, Washington, visited his son’s church in the Walla Walla Valley. There, he struck up a conversation with Rick Desmond about radio. Paul informed him there was a high-powered station available in the area. His vision was to make radio spirit-driven vs. market-driven, using a sound we still use today.
Wanting to grab the opportunity, Rick introduced the dream to a small group of believers: to start a Christian radio station that offered easy sounds of spiritual music and uplifting, Christ-centered programming.
The group was interested, but had no funds for such a project. LifeTalk Radio offered to provide the license at no cost—if they joined the LifeTalk network.
By God’s providence, the door was open. They chose to walked through it in faith.
From Vision to Blueprint
Of course, having a license wasn’t enough. Starting a radio station required:
- Applying for the license
- FCC approval
- A tower and transmitter
- Tower location
- Studio space
- Equipment
- And, most of all… funding
It seemed overwhelming. But God already had His team:
Paul Moore, Jr., Rick and Kathy Desmond, Richard Grizzell, Leland Quinn, and Matlee Parks—the station’s founding members.
Five Years of Faith and Hard Work
Their construction permit had five years to navigate the complex FCC approval process to get the license. Meanwhile, God continued to open doors. A site decision was finally settled near Lower Basket Mountain Road, off the Weston-Elgin Highway. When a used tower became available, Richard Grizzell jumped on the opportunity and bought it. However, for the final site, the tower was too short.
The tower needed extension and restoration. Richard oversaw the welding of additional sections. For the used sections, they hired someone to strip off the old paint, and a local machine shop owned by Ron Larson, powder-coated the sections to withstand the elements. An engineer from Walla Walla College was brought in to design the foundation and anchor points. Slowly but surely, the pieces were coming together. Paul Moore, Sr. oversaw the project details.
Building the Backbone
Richard and Paul poured the cement for erecting the tower. Piece by piece, they built the tower from top down. Holes were dug six-feet deep for anchors to hold the cables from the tower. In the meantime, Kerry Nelson built a small wood-framed building to house the well-used transmitter they obtained from LifeTalk.
In 1999, Pastor Owen Bandy became a key supporter, encouraging his church to help fund the growing ministry.
In 2000, local business owner Paul Rasmussen donated studio space in his building at NW Collision, where KLRF operated until 2011, when it moved to its current space at SonBridge.
The First Broadcast
As the permit’s FCC’s broadcast deadline approached in December 2000, a last-minute problem surfaced: components in the transmitter on the mountain went out. With time running out—and snow covering the tower site—volunteers jumped on borrowed snowmobiles and raced to fix the issue.
After much prayer, troubleshooting, and determination, the switch was flipped.
For the very first time, the Sacred Sounds Inspiring Hope filled the airwaves of the Walla Walla Valley.
25 Years Later…
Since that snowy December day, KLRF 88.5 FM has faithfully broadcast encouragement, truth, and hope. Through music, messages, and moments of peace, it has reminded listeners of God’s presence—day after day, year after year.
From a dream and a few faithful hearts, to a full-fledged station that now reaches thousands—KLRF is a living testimony of what God can do when His people step forward in faith.
“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” – Psalm 118:23
Thank you to every listener, donor, volunteer, and prayer partner who has helped make this ministry possible.
May its sound proclaim the Good News until Jesus comes again.
Questions? We'd love to connect!
Have a question or want to connect with KLRF? We’d love to hear from you.