The Dallas/Fort Worth radio community is stunned.
Terry Dorsey, a fixture in DFW radio since 1981 and the longest-running host on D/FW FM radio, died suddnely Saturday night at his retirement home in Illinois.
He was 68-years-of-age.
"Terry had not been feeling well these past few days, and it was rather sudden," wrote Mark "Hawkeye" Louis, who had co-hosted the morning show with Dorsey since 1988. "My heart is broken over the loss."
His former morning show partney Mark "Hawkeye" Louis broke the news Sunday on Facebook:
“We were not expecting this,” says “Trapper” John Morris, assistant program director at KSCS-FM and producer of Hawkeye and Dorsey in the Morning. Morris told The Dallas Morning News Dorsey died of natural causes, according to his family.
“We’re stunned,” Morris says. “Hawkeye found out last night. I was at the gym this morning and got a text from someone that said, ‘What’s this I’m seeing on Facebook?’ I was hoping someone had been hacked. But in the back of my mind it was like, ‘Oh, no.’”
When he retired, Dorsey was easily among the most beloved and honored radio voices in Dallas-Fort Worth. The Cincinnati native collected every major award his industry had to offer, including Billboard’s Local Radio Air Personality of the Year. In 2006 he was inducted into the Country Music On-Air Personality Hall of Fame.
He retired from his long-term Hawkeye and Dorsey morning show on Country KSCS 96.3 FM this past December 17th. The departure broke-up a duo that has been together for more than 25 years, since 1988 when Dorsey, Mark “Hawkeye” Louis and others made up what was became known as The Dorsey Gang.
Dorsey started his radio career in the late 60's at WFKY in Frankfort, Kentucky. He then made stops in Richmond, Indiana; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Dayton, Ohio before arriving in Dallas in 1980 to do mornings on KPLX. Dorsey moved across town to KSCS in July, 1988 and had been a fixture on KSCS ever since.
Dorsey is a Vietnam War veteran, serving as a Combat Engineer in the Army. He was inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 2006, and into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2007. He has also won the CMA, AMA, and Billboard Major Market Personality of the Year Awards.
In 2010, Dorsey gained worldwide recognition when an April Fool's prank got the attention of almost all the major news outlets and organizations including ESPN and CNN. Eddie Gossage, general manager of Texas Motor Speedway, offered Terry $100,000 if he would "legally change his name" to TexasMotorSpeedway.com!
His partner Mark “Hawkeye” Louis, KSCS Morning Co-Host said in December: "There are people in the metroplex that have never heard Dallas radio without Terry Dorsey, and I've worked with him almost all of my career. I'm in shock along with everyone else."
Back in December, Cumulus President and CEO, Lew Dickey was there to congratulate Terry Dorsey on his retirement after 46 years in radio, 33 years in Dallas, and 26 years at KSCS!
Tweets about #RIP Terry Dorsey
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