VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Joe Hoppel, one of Hampton Roads' longest-serving radio DJs who worked at WCMS, has died at 89 years old.
According to a statement from his family, Hoppel passed away on Tuesday in Virginia Beach. His family told 13News Now he was surrounded by family in the hospital after months of declining health.
“People would go by and beep at him, 'Hey Joe, how you doing?' My dad would wave. We’d go, ‘Dad, who was that?’ and he’d go, 'I don’t know... some listener. But they know who I am, so I'm always being nice to them.' His thing was to treat people the way you want to be treated," his son Michael Hoppel said.
A Pennsylvania native and graduate of Radio City Broadcasting School in New York, Hoppel began working at Hampton Roads' country music station WCMS as a morning disc jockey. He worked there for over 48 years before retiring in 2003.
Hoppel earned awards from the Country Music Association as Music Director of the Year and for his 40 consecutive years in broadcasting. Over his long career, he met legendary artists like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, and more. He was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2002.
“To be in one market, doing one show for dang-done 50 years, that's almost unheard of," Michael said.
He also worked to spread joy and help the community by raising money for cancer research, the Union Mission, The Joy Fund, and the creation of the "Tell Someone They're Doing a Good Job" week, which is celebrated just before Christmas.
"To listeners, it was like turning on your radio and hearing your best friend," 97.3 The Eagle host Karen West told 13News Now.
"With some radio personalities, they yell at you. Some of us don’t want to be yelled at. We want to get up out of bed, that calm voice helping us get to work and that’s what Joe did," she added, calling him a "hero" to her as she was entering the radio industry.
Jennifer Roberts, one of his co-hosts for many years, wrote in a tribute post from the radio station, 97.3 The Eagle that "he was a true gentleman, a class act all the way, we are all better for knowing him, learning from, and laughing with him."