MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A radio legend in West Virginia, known best on the Morgantown airwaves, has died. Lacy Neff, a former longtime air personality and program director for Morgantown’s WVAQ-FM, died at a Boston hospital at the age of 49.
Since Nov. 2013, Neff had been a patient at Mass General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2013, a rare disease that builds up abnormal proteins in vital organs, Neff has spent the time since then in and out of hospitals. In his case, those abnormal proteins were attacking his heart. His initial diagnosis also included multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells.
He had a heart transplant and stem cell transplant among many other surgeries and medical procedures.
“I think one of the reasons that he lived so long despite a very serious disease is he was just so full of life. He embraced every day,” expressed colleague Hoppy Kercheval, Vice President of Operations for West Virginia Radio Corporation. “He found the joy in anything he did. He brought that gift, not only to the listeners, but to his fellow workers, his friends and frankly just people he met casually.”
Neff was first hired at WVAQ-FM as the nighttime DJ in 1987. During his radio career that spanned decades, Neff won two national Marconi Awards, presented by the National Association of Broadcasters, for “Small Market Personality of the Year” and led West Virginia Radio Corporation to three Marconi Awards.
“Lacy was a very talented guy. He never stopped learning. He continued to improve his skills and the skills of others. He worked very hard, not only to make WVAQ a great radio station, but he also mentored others,” Kercheval noted. “Many people who he worked with at WVAQ went on to other jobs in bigger markets.”
Every year from 2003 to 2007, the West Virginia Broadcasters Association named Neff “Best On-Air Personality.”
In 2014, Neff was inducted into the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
“It means everything,” he said at the time. “You never get into this business to win an award, but when they do come along it is kind of a reflection of a lot of hard work and the people who help get you there — the Hall of Fame is the pinnacle.”