Don Neagle, the radio broadcaster who entertained and informed listeners across Logan County and southcentral Kentucky for over 60 years, died Tuesday morning at the age of 86 after dealing with health issues stemming from a recent fall.

Chris McGinnis, owner and general manager of WRUS, said he will remember Neagle as a “congenial, caring, decent man who everybody loved and respected.”

Originally from Exie, Neagle’s start in radio came when he was a teenager covering election results in Green County. McGinnis said by 1958, Neagle was working at WKCT-AM in Bowling Green when he learned the station in Russellville was looking for help.

Neagle joined WRUS on Sept. 1, 1958. McGinnis said Neagle worked at the station in advertising and was on the air at different times during the week and on weekends, ultimately becoming general manager of the station.

Neagle, McGinnis and his father Bill McGinnis partnered to create Logan Radio Inc. in 2002 and purchased WRUS.

They remained business partners for over two decades until Neagle’s death, McGinnis said.

“I got to know Don on a personal level, as well as anybody ever did, because of the conversations he and I shared about everything,” McGinnis said.

Neagle hosted the popular show “Feedback,” which first aired in 1984 and ended with a final episode on Feb. 6 of this year.

McGinnis said guests on the show included Kentucky Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell and Kentucky Governors Julian Carroll and John Y. Brown, along with a slew of local figures.

Another of Neagle’s guests was Byron Crawford, who worked as a columnist covering Kentucky for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Crawford said he would speak with Neagle on-air over a phone call around once a month and the two would discuss Crawford’s recent columns.

“He would always come up with something that interested him and that he thought would interest his radio audience,” Crawford said. “He had that innate ability to know what his listeners would find interesting because it interested him.”

Crawford said given Neagle’s upbringing, he was “homegrown.”

“He knew people,” Crawford said. “He knew Kentuckians.”

Neagle was inducted into the Kentucky Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame the following year.

Al Cross is a former director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. Cross knew Neagle for 48 years, first meeting when Cross worked at the Russellville News-Democrat & Leader.

Cross said Neagle had various qualities which gave him so much success in his career, including curiosity and the ability to ask “tough questions.”

“Don was always armed to the teeth with the facts,” Cross said. “He was a great radio host in the journalistic sense – he was a seeker of truth.”

Neagle retired from hosting WRUS’ morning show in 2022 at the age of 84, although he regularly appeared on air afterwards. In an interview with the Daily News on his then-upcoming retirement, Neagle said he was thankful for his listeners.

“I’ve enjoyed the support from the people,” Neagle said. “For the most part, they have been very kind to me. I love and respect them very much.”