Near the end of his life, prominent radio personality Wayne Cannon told his wife, son and daughter, gathered by his side, “I am so happy.”

There was nothing more she could ask for than contentment for the good-natured, lighthearted father who always put his family first, his daughter, Amanda Paige said.

“In that last half hour he was conscious he said that, out of the blue. It was very special,” his daughter said on Monday, April 19, the day the 72-year-old Cannon died.

“I’m so thankful to have given him that gift, and gotten such peace and love in return. I’ll love you forever, dad,” she posted on Facebook, with an old snapshot of herself as a toddler, riding on Cannon’s back as he, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, crawled on his hands and knees in their home.

Cannon enjoyed a long radio career along the Maryland and Delaware coast, but grew up in Delmar and as a child idolized Salisbury’s longtime roster of radio personalities, including Roland Twigg, Johnny Williams, Tom McGuire and Ralph Pennewell.

Cannon and his wife, Chris, who also have a son, Jeff, of North Beach, Md., marked their 43rd wedding anniversary on April 15, while Cannon was hospitalized at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, and his wife also had a birthday.

Reached after his death, she declined to comment, saying it was too difficult and asking that her daughter speak instead.

Later in the day on Monday, Paige announced Mike Bradley will host a tribute hour to her father on WGMD-FM radio on Friday, April 23, from 7:20 to 8:30 a.m. Anyone wishing to share memories can call 302-945-9292.

“Dear friends of Wayne Cannon,” his wife posted on Facebook early Monday. “I am heartbroken to tell you this, but Wayne passed away this morning, April 19th, after a brief battle with pulmonary fibrosis. He was diagnosed on Feb. 23, 2021, and his decline was rapid. We, his family, greatly appreciate the prayers and support of all those who knew of his illness. Arrangements are being made and a celebration of life will be held at a later date. Rest in peace, my love.”

The couple had a 5-year-old grandson, Jeff’s son, named Jameson, who Cannon nicknamed Crazy Man Jameson. In some ways, the boy’s personality resembles his grandfather’s.

The death of the man upheld as an icon surprised friends and colleagues, many who were unaware he was ill. Not wanting sympathy, Cannon kept his condition quiet.

For the past several months, he was having what Paige called “lung issues.” Not one to rush to a doctor or take medications, he eventually sought medical care and was diagnosed with the disease, occurring when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred.

Her father was admitted to AGH on his  birthday, April 11, after the oxygen he was using at home became insufficient and he had difficulty breathing.

A dedicated husband, he helped clean the house and enjoyed cooking, especially his signature rigatoni with marinara sauce and salad presented tableside.

“He was a true professional in the field,” said Kelli Steele, Morning Edition host and Arts Reporter at Delaware Public Media, who was news director at WGMD-FM when Cannon worked there. “He will be greatly missed,” she said.

“It’s a devastating loss,” said Sandy Christensen, business manager at WGMD.

“We’re shocked. Wayne was there at WGMD before I was. He was there from 1993 to 2013 and I came in 2000. He was always upbeat. He could always make you laugh, no matter how you were feeling. He would tell jokes. At work, he was a phenomenal professional. There was nothing he wouldn’t do. He always stepped in to help. He started out on the air and ended up in sales,” Christensen said.

Cannon retired from WGMD  in 2013. During his career he also worked for stations including WSEA and WZBH in Georgetown and WBAL-AM where he was known as the Man in the Sand as he reported from the resort.

Jeannie Powell, widow of former Ocean City Mayor Roland E. “Fish” Powell, said she was sorry to hear of Cannon’s death and recalled how fond of him her husband was.

Years ago, Cannon was emcee at  a dinner and Fish Powell roast that had the audience in fits of laughter and that Cannon’s daughter never forgot. Those who attended remembered Cannon saying when he asked Powell how he got his nickname,  he expected an intricately woven story, but Powell just shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

After his wife announced his death, hundreds of condolences and comments were quickly posted on Facebook.

John V. Patti of WBAL NewsRadio  posted on Facebook, “I so enjoyed catching up with Wayne when at the beach. He was our ‘Man In The Sand’ for years on WBAL Radio. Baltimore’s connection to the beach. Fitting that it’s raining at the beach today.”

Realtor Rob Warfield commented, “So sorry for your loss. Amanda and I became friends through the Kite Loft, but Wayne was always so nice to me growing up. Just an incredible human, he will be missed.”

Attorney Ralph Sapia called news of his death “devastatingly sad.”

“Wayne is one of my parent's favorite people. They shared many laugh-filled evenings at the House of Pasta. You always supported us through the years. I speak for mom and my family when I say today is a sad day,” he wrote.

Worcester County Commissioner James “Bud” Church called Cannon “my hero” and added his family was in his prayers.

On Cannon’s Facebook page, Virginia Childers Davidson posted a video of the broadcaster covering Hurricane Isabel in 2003. With the sound of wind blowing in the background, Cannon was heard saying he was in front of Seashell City

“He really was an icon,” said local entertainment promoter Bob Rothermel, who recalled the way Cannon’s face lit up when he talked about playing catch with his son and who enjoyed conversing with Rothermel on the air.

Once, Rothermel was heading to a radio station where Cannon worked and knew it was somewhere around 50th Street in Ocean City. He called Cannon and told him he somehow missed  the station and ended up in Delaware so Cannon, never missing a beat, put him on the air as he was driving.

“When I think of Ocean City and Wayne, he was the town. He loved sharing anecdotes from the past and pieces of history that might get lost. He always had a way of communicating. He was a communicator. He was  a professional wordsmith,” Rothermel said.

He recalled Cannon broadcasting on WETT and mentioning a problem with Delmarva Power.

“And he decided on air to call someone from the power  company. This is long before call processing and all that kind of thing. He was bound and determined to work his way in and talk to them on air. It was a priceless conversation. He was clearly irritated. I don’t even know what happened that caused him to get a burr under his saddle but he was on it and this person, I can’t remember if it was a man or a woman, the person responded by saying, ‘Well I guess you have some kind of colloquial charm.’ I thought Wayne was going to explode on the air. That’s all he talked about  was, ‘Huh. Colloquial charm. I’ll have to go look it up.’ He played with that priceless exchange,” Rothermel said.

So deep was his love for the resort that when Cannon was 15 and living in his native Delmar, he convinced his parents to drive him to the beach and get him a little apartment so he could work in Ocean City for the summer.

His first job was as a busboy for the former Mario’s Italian Restaurant, his daughter said. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and was a medic during the Vietnam War, but was never sent to Vietnam. He served in Germany, then returned to Ocean City.

“He wouldn’t ever leave Ocean City. He loved it so much. He was the kind of man who never complained. That was one reason his illness went so long without being diagnosed,” she said, laughing at the idea of him being a disciplinarian and saying no, that was her mother’s role.

“He was an engaged dad. I remember when I started kindergarten at Ocean City Elementary School, he finagled the radio station, WETT at the time, where he had a morning show, so he could do a live remote from the school. He didn’t want to miss my first day of school,” she said.

“He was such a sweetheart, always the fun dad. His family was part of the radio station. He would bring  us kids in for station identification. We would record them for him. He found a way to blend all the things he loved – his family, the radio and Ocean City.”