In Atlanta's golden age of rock 'n' roll, Dick Meeder and 96 Rock radio were its epicenter.

"He was an important part of it," said concert promoter Alex Cooley of Atlanta. "When rock 'n' roll, especially in Atlanta, was cresting, meaningful people lived their lives around that station. Dick was a major part of that community."

Mr. Meeder was general manager of 96 Rock from 1974 to 1985.

"A promoter like me and a radio station like Dick's were a community of interest," Mr. Cooley said. "Ninety-five percent of my target audience listened to his station."

The memorial service for Richard H. Meeder, 77, of Roswell will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Roswell Presbyterian Church. He died May 19 following heart surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital. The body was cremated. H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

"Dick ran an incredibly great radio station," Mr. Cooley said. "He had a great facility for hiring great disc jockeys."

Mr. Meeder provided a loose framework that allowed DJs their creativity. One of his rules, though, was inviolate. Every hour had eight minutes of advertising and 52 minutes of music —- no exceptions.

Some concerts —- the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart —- he had only to announce and tickets sold out immediately. Others needed promoting on 96 Rock, sometimes when the eight minutes of ad time was sold out, Mr. Cooley said. But Mr. Meeder never, ever would break his eight-minute rule to add advertising minutes to promote one of his friend's concerts. He might talk to other advertisers and work around it, but he never broke it, Mr. Cooley said.

Deborah Garner of Fayetteville worked at 96 Rock during its heyday. "It was fun and exciting," she said. "We were a part of something that will never happen again. The music industry was on fire, and we were in the middle of it."

In the broader music world, Mr. Meeder directed unsuccessful efforts to build a Grammy Hall of Fame in Atlanta, was co-chairman of the Atlanta Music Awards and was a familiar presence at rock concerts.

He was an engaging storyteller and inveterate practical joker. One April Fools' Day, he put together three minutes of clarinet music, Hawaiian songs and such. He announced on air that 96 Rock was changing its format, then played his music mixture. The phone lines lit up and before he could announce it was a joke, listeners streamed into the parking lot, cutting figure eights in the snow in protest.

Left on his own, Mr. Meeder listened to big band music and jazz and played tenor saxophone with the New Horizons Band, said his wife, Bette Meeder.

He was meant to follow in the footsteps of his father, who headed a major oil company, his wife said. He had a go at it, then switched to sales, where he spent the next 46 years at various television and radio stations and succeeded with a freer management style.

After leaving 96 Rock, he helped found TrafficScan, a traffic reporting service where decisions were made in a community think tank and employees could bring their children to work when necessary.

"You certainly don't have that any more," said his colleague Patti Armstrong of Canton. "Today, you're told what to do."

Mr. Meeder made TrafficScan so successful that a national company, Metro Networks, bought it and kept him on as general manager until he retired in 2000.

"Dick was one of a kind, he really was," Mrs. Armstrong said.

Survivors other than his wife include two sons, Richard H. Meeder Jr. of Ellijay and Scott Meeder of Roswell; a brother, Frederick Meeder of Chicago; a half sister, Edith Annin of Allenwood, N.J.; and three grandchildren.