You’ve heard his voice on the radio, Von Coffman retires after long career behind the mic

SALT LAKE CITY — There’s a good chance you’ve heard his voice before. It’s probably been hundreds, if not thousands, of times on the radio.

However, you probably don’t know what he looks like, which he doesn’t mind one bit.

“I have only been recognized by my voice once in Salt Lake City and it was funny. A girl cocked her head, looked like Pavlov’s dog, and went, ‘are you on the radio’?” said Von Coffman with a laugh. “I said no, I am here eating dinner and then we both laughed.”

Coffman can’t tell you how many commercials and teasers he has voiced in his long career.

But he can tell you it never got old.

“Still, to this day. I love it like the day I got into it 40 years ago,” Coffman said. “It has been an absolute ball.”

That twinkle in his eyes when talking about his career is because Coffman is retiring this week.

“All these racing stripes are telling me I should go play golf,” he said while running his hand through his silver-grey goatee. “It is time.”

Friday, September 1st, is his last day at work.

Coffman has been the man behind the microphone at Bonneville, which is KSL’s parent company, working as radio’s creative production director.

He helps write scripts and pick out sound effects, but it’s that voice; that smooth-sounding cadence wrapping each syllable and word with warmth that has made clients across the country want Coffman to be the voice for their commercials.

Coffman has also done this kind of work promoting segments for KSL News Radio, FM 100.3, and 103.5 The Arrow.

“In radio, there is no picture, so you have to draw that picture in someone’s mind. That’s the fun of it,” said Coffman.

He does this by inflecting his voice depending on what the spot is about.

For example, we asked him to promote this story using different voices (you’ll have to watch the video attached to this story to hear them).

“Well, we can do it in a dumb guy’s voice. Watch Von Coffman’s retirement party on KSL TV,” he said with a pitchy sounding nasally voice.

“Or, tonight at 6, it’s Von Coffman’s retirement party, will he stay or will he go?” he said in a mysterious voice.

His cowboy voice is one clients really love.

“Well, Von Coffman’s gonna retire. Come see him at KSL TV,” he said as if he’s sitting around a campfire surrounded by horses and other cowboys.

We had a little goodbye for him here at the KSL studios before his move to Florida.

He is still planning on doing voiceover work from his home studio.

“Yeah, I will continue on until I can’t speak,” he said.

Coffman also knows it won’t be the same.

“Utah is a special place,” he said. “I was thinking about that the other day sitting at a friend’s house in Draper. I was looking at the mountains and I was like; I will miss those.”

He paused for moment and then added with a stern voice, “I won’t miss the snow.”

We at KSL and Bonneville are certainly going to miss him.