When Rose Rymarz was about to go on the air for the first time in her professional radio career, the program director at WKPA-AM/WYDD-FM in New Kensington had a suggestion.

He decided she should use only her first name because he thought her last name, Rymarz, was too ethnic-sounding for radio. This was during the almost-anything-goes 1970s.

She told him she had never heard of a newscaster without a last name.

The next day, the news director came up with the name Ryan because it was “kind of close to Rymarz.” The program director approved. The name, Rose Ryan, lasted until she married sportscaster Tab Douglas in 1982.

Rose Ryan Douglas is how admirers of her brand of reliable broadcast journalism have come to know her during her nearly two decades of anchoring the news at KDKA radio.

But now, she’s ready to move on. After 45 years in broadcasting, Douglas has announced she is retiring. Her last day at KDKA radio is Feb. 26.

“I was not going to leave before KDKA’s 100th birthday,” said Douglas, of Shaler. “Then I decided I might as well stay through the inauguration. And then all these events started coming up, and I realized I have to draw a line.

“I decided on February because I got my first radio job in February of 1976, a total of 45 years — bingo — that’s it.”

Not bad for someone who had no real interest in broadcasting while she was growing up in New Kensington’s Mount Vernon neighborhood.

After graduating from Valley High School in New Kensington, Douglas went to Clarion State College (now University) and studied to become a teacher.

“All I wanted to do was teach elementary school, because I just loved school,” she said.

However, one day during her second semester at Clarion, she sat behind a microphone at the college radio station and delivered a newscast.

It changed her life.

“I just sat back after I did the newscast, and I thought, ‘That was really fun,’ ” Douglas said. “But I decided I could never make a living doing something that was that much fun.”

She earned her teaching degree, but her first job was in radio, as a disc jockey and news reader — and she never left broadcasting.

Douglas’ first news director at WKPA/WYDD, Francine Costello, told her, ‘If you really want to stay in this business, get into news. Stop spinning records and do something that’s going to give you longevity.’ It’s the best advice I ever got,” Douglas said.

From there she went to WFFM in Braddock, where she was allowed to be Rose Rymarz. A year later, she moved on to 96KX, which asked her to go back to Ryan because it was easier for people to spell.

“Sheesh, my parents understood, but I think my grandparents, who came from Poland, were a little hurt. ‘What was wrong with our name?’ I apologized, but told them it worked well for my safety: No weirdos out there could find me and bother me. True, but a stretch. It made them feel a little better.”

Douglas then went to WWSW (970 and 94.5 FM), where she anchored the morning news for nearly 20 years. Her husband did sports reports alongside her.

But when 3WS let her go in 2002, Douglas found herself at a crossroads.

“When 3WS let me go, I had a temporary thought of, ‘Do I really want to get back into radio?’ And I said to myself, ‘I will only get back into radio if KDKA will hire me.’ So I went for it, and they did, and here I am.”

She always thought of KDKA as the top station.

“I just respected their sound and everything about KDKA,” she said. “That was the news station to me, that if you needed to know anything, you would go there.”

Douglas went there and eventually settled into the coveted Monday through Friday afternoon drive anchor slot.

Her most memorable day at KDKA was not a weekday, she said. It happened Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 — the Tree of Life attack.

“Every time I think of the biggest thing I ever had to relay to the audience, I think of Tree of Life, one of the most horrific days for everyone. That was on a Saturday, and we only had one person in the newsroom at the time. So I was called to come in as soon as I could get here,” Douglas said.

“The teamwork and everything that happened that day was amazing. You try to be factual and nonemotional. Nobody wants my emotions. (The listeners) have their own emotions. They just want to know what’s happening,” Douglas said. “What I hope I did that day, and what I try to do every day, is just focus on reading the words and getting the information out. And then I’ll go home and cry.”

Michael Spacciapolli, senior vice president and market manager for Entercom Pittsburgh, which owns KDKA, called Rose Ryan Douglas the ultimate news professional.

“We have been so fortunate to have her in our newsroom for so many years delivering the news that matters to the city,” Spacciapolli said. “I know that she will be greatly missed by our listeners. Ultimately, we are grateful for all of her work over the years to help make KDKA the news source of Pittsburgh.”

Douglas said her retirement plans include spending time with her four grandchildren, sewing, gardening and taking classes that interest her. She’ll also keep one foot in the business by doing occasional voice work and narrations.

“Maybe I’ll learn a new language. They say that’s good for your brain.”

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