RUSSELLVILLE — For six and a half decades, southcentral Kentuckians tuned into longtime WRUS Radio host Don Neagle. Neagle, who passed away in February at age 86, will now have his life and legacy preserved for future generations after U.S. Sen. Rand Paul honored Neagle with being placed in the Congressional Record.

Paul presented a copy of the record document to members of Neagle’s family at a ceremony at WRUS Monday morning. During the ceremony, Paul described Neagle as a “steady voice” for Logan County and Southcentral Kentucky.

“I’ll bet you there probably wasn’t anybody in town who didn’t know Don Neagle and hadn’t heard his program before,” Paul said.

Neagle, originally from Exie, got his start in radio by covering election results in Green County. By 1958, he was working at WKCT-AM in Bowling Green. His first day at WRUS was Sept. 1, 1958.

Neagle hosted “Feedback” on WRUS, a popular show which ran from 1984 until its final episode aired on Feb. 6 of this year. Guests on Feedback included Kentucky governors along with local figures and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Paul spoke about his various appearances on the show Monday, saying he called in as a guest even before he was elected to the Senate. Paul said while he was still a practicing eye doctor, he was on the show and was asked by a caller about a home remedy for an eye issue.

“One of them called in and said, ‘Well, now I heard it was a good idea to heat up a potato in the microwave and put it on because I’ve got (a problem) on my (eye)lid,’ ” Paul told Neagle’s family with a laugh. “I said, ‘Well, it might be, but I’d just be careful it’s not too hot.’ ”

Paul said the Congressional Record is an ongoing archive of congressional history, which started in 1787. He presented a copy of the record to Neagle’s daughter Lisa Whitt, granddaughter Anna Haley and step-granddaughter Caitlin Whitt.

Kelley Paul, wife of Rand Paul and a native of Logan County, noted during the ceremony how highly Neagle was thought of by the community and what he meant to listeners.

“It was just pure radio like none other,” Kelley Paul said. “It was organic, it was lively, it was whatever was going on in the town … he is greatly missed and will always be remembered.”

Chris McGinnis, owner and general manager of WRUS, described Neagle as a friend and said he was “a mentor to all of Logan County.”

“Don was the most trusted voice in our community,” McGinnis said. “People half-jokingly would say ‘well, if Don Neagle didn’t say it, then it must not be true.’ ”

Together with McGinnis and his father Bill McGinnis, Neagle formed Logan Radio, Inc. in 2002 and purchased WRUS. In 2005, Neagle was inducted into the Kentucky Broadcasters Hall of Fame, with an induction into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame the following year.

Logan County Judge-Executive Phil Baker said in the 52 years he’s been alive, he has always started his morning listening to Neagle.

Baker said as a child, one of his favorite things to do was running down stairs when it snowed and waiting to hear Neagle announce school closures.

“He was the original, and will always be to me, the actual voice of Logan County,” Baker said.