HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton Roads country music radio legend Joe Hoppel has died, according to a social media post from his family.

For decades, Hoppel was a fixture on WCMS radio. He’s also in the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

Hoppel, who ranks with the top local radio personalities of his time, was 89-years-old.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in its digital archive, has one of his airchecks posted on its website.

Hoppel was also the author of a book, “People I’ve Met, Things I’ve Done: 50 Years in Country Music Radio,” which came out in 2010.

He was described in headlines as “a legend of local radio.”

Hoppel, according to a biography posted on the Country Radio Seminar website, was born in Nicktown, Pennsylvania and began his broadcasting career at 15 as a part-time air personality at WNCC in Barsboro, Pennsylvania from 1950 to 1952, later working at WLOW in Portsmouth between 1952 and 1955, where he began playing country music. He then jointed country-formatted WCMS and worked there from 1955 until 2003, spending the majority of his career as the morning host.

He was noted for his community service, and created the “Tell Someone They’re Doing a Good Job” week, which was celebrated on the last full week before Christmas, and was known for collecting photos of himself with country performers putting him in a headlock.

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