After a 51-year broadcasting career, WBEE's Steve Hausmann will retire at the end of August.

Hausmann, 70, announced his retirement Monday morning on the BEE Morning Coffee Club radio show. The show airs weekday morning on WBEE (92.5 FM).

"I'm very excited," he said, adding that "its been kind of an unkept secret around town, but I chose today to tell everybody that I'm retiring."

His last day will be Aug. 30, Hausmann said.

A Boston-area native who has been in the Rochester region since 1987, Hausmann is now a Brighton resident. His career has been varied and included a decade as weekend sports anchor at WHEC-TV (Channel 10). He's been at WBEE since 2001 and co-host of the BEE Morning Coffee Club for the last 15 years.

Hausmann said on air that he felt that "after 51 years, enough's enough."

The show airs weekday mornings from 5:30 to 10 a.m. Co-hosts TJ Sharp and Jeremy Newman will remain on air.

"We love Steve Hausmann and he's been a cornerstone here for many years," said Sue Munn, senior vice-president and Rochester market manager for Entercom Rochester. "We're going to miss him."

Hausmann said he and his wife Julie together decided it was time to focus on their next chapter of life. Among future plans, Hausmann is on the board of Visit Rochester, the official tourism promotion agency for Monroe County.

"I promised myself I would not laze around...but I see myself having a great 8 o'clock in the morning to 10 o'clock at night life," he said.

VFREILE@Gannett.com