R.I.P.: Marconi Award Winner Lacy Neff Has Died At 49

Lacy Neff

A radio legend in West Virginia, known best on the Morgantown airwaves, has died. Lacy Neff, a former longtime air personality and program director for Morgantown’s WVAQ 101.9 FM Q102, died Wednesday at the age of 49.

Since Nov. 2013, Neff had been a patient at Mass General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, according to WVA Metro News.

Diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2013, a rare disease that builds up abnormal proteins in vital organs, Neff had spent the time since then in and out of hospitals. In his case, those abnormal proteins were attacking his heart. His initial diagnosis also included multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells.

He had a heart transplant and stem cell transplant among many other surgeries and medical procedures, but always kept a positive attitude.

During his radio career that spanned decades, Neff won two national Marconi Awards, presented by the National Association of Broadcasters, for “Small Market Personality of the Year” and led West Virginia Radio Corporation to three Marconi Awards.

Every year from 2003 to 2007, the West Virginia Broadcasters Association named Neff “Best On-Air Personality.”

In 2014, Neff was inducted into the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame.