POSTED: 10:44 pm EST December 19, 2011
UPDATED: 11:56 am EST December 20, 2011
BALTIMORE -- Ron Smith, who spent most of his life with the WBAL family, succumbed to pancreatic cancer Monday night. He was 70. Ron died at his home in Shrewsbury, Pa., surrounded by his wife, June, and the rest of his family. He is survived by his wife, five children and seven grandchildren. Funeral services will be private. A public memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.In October, Smith announced on his WBAL 1090 AM radio show that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. In November, he elected to stop his chemotherapy treatments at Johns Hopkins Hospital and announced his retirement from broadcasting.Ron had been a fixture on WBAL Radio and Television for nearly 40 years. Ron began his broadcasting career in Albany, N.Y., and arrived in Baltimore in 1973 as a reporter and anchor for WBAL-TV. He anchored television newscasts as part of WBAL-TV's old "Action News" team between 1973 and 1980. Then, after a brief break from broadcasting to work as a stockbroker, Smith returned to WBAL Radio in 1985 to begin a whole new journey as a talk show host. Never a screamer, Smith succeeded by staying on top of local and national politics and standing firm on his principles -- even if his listeners disagreed. A former Marine, Smith opposed both wars in Iraq, and this year, he criticized the U.S. action in Libya.Billed a conservative, he had no problem picking on both political parties. In the 2008 presidential race, he called U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., "too angry to be trusted." Smith thought then-U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., saw government as the "ultimate nanny." Regarding then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Smith asked, "What's beneath all the fervor?" He added, "It's hard to tell."This year, Smith chided both sides in the debacle over the debt limit. Smith said the president had no plan. Smith declared the plans introduced by House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Gang of Six "woefully inadequate."U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin wrote Monday night, "I have been on Ron Smith's show many times over the years and he had a unique voice that made him a Baltimore radio icon. While Ron and I often disagreed, he was always fair, he was always insightful and he was always honest with his listeners. Today, I join the many, many fans of Ron Smith in mourning the passing of someone I had enormous respect for and who I counted as a true friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, June, and his family."U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski wrote Tuesday, "I join Baltimore in mourning the loss of Ron Smith. He was a talented and well-informed broadcaster who became one of our most beloved radio icons. Known for being a straight-shooter, he was honest and direct with his listeners. Ron truly loved his audience. And they loved him. We often disagreed, but I respected him for being knowledgeable and fair. Ron faced his illness with his usual dignity and vigor. Despite his grave illness, he shared his final days with his listeners on his radio show. He will be missed by his many fans. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family." Smith called himself the "voice of reason" and he continued working as long as he could. He was a man who loved what he did and knew how lucky he was to have the chance to spend so much of his life pursuing it.Here's what he wrote in a column in April 2010: "A confession: I've never been able to keep my mouth shut. If I see something that seems important, I can't keep it to myself. This makes me incapable of being a good corporate citizen and insures that I'm seen as a pain-in-the-ass by authority figures. It took years to figure out how to overcome this characteristic enough to stay employed and make a living. Luckily, there was talk radio, the one place where extreme candor can pay off."
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Source: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/30034561/detail.html
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