R.I.P.: Longtime Indiana Radio Broadcaster Ronn Mott

Ronn Mott

Described as “a walking encyclopedia of music,” Wabash Valley broadcast legend Ronn Mott died late Monday night in Terre Haute after suffering complications from a recent fall.

He was 81-years-old age, according to tribstar.com.

“The doctors told me last night they were pretty sure he had a heart attack,” said Deanna Mott, his wife for the past 12 years. “They were getting ready to start dialysis on him and he went into cardiac arrest.”

Right up to his death, Mott was employed by radio station WAXI 104.9 FM and by the Tribune-Star as a columnist.

Dave Crooks, president and general manager of five DLC Media radio stations mentioned that Mott was approaching the 64-year anniversary of his radio broadcasting debut.

“Last fall, he finally convinced me to turn him loose on his ‘Sunday Classics with Ronn Mott’ show [at 8:30 a.m. on WAXI],” Crooks said. “He had a lot of pride when it came to being the self-proclaimed music maestro. He had a huge record collection — everything from records to CDs [compact discs] and cassettes. ... He came up with some songs that normally don’t get a lot of air play. Stuff from the late ‘40s and ‘50s and ‘60s.”