Daniel Thomas “Tom” Hannon III, 83, died Thursday at his home.
Hannon, a Henderson native, worked for Burlington Industries in several locations across the state before returning to his hometown to work for Rose’s Stores, Inc. He retired after almost 20 years of service with Rose’s, and then indulged his love of storytelling by working for several years with WIZS as a host of Town Talk and Sports Talk.
According to his wife, Anna, a memorial service will be held in the spring. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by three children, Daniel Thomas “Dan” Hannon, IV, Kathryn Lee Phillips and Robyn Watkins Hipp, and seven grandchildren.
John C. Rose remembered Hannon on Monday’s Town Talk program and shared memories of his time at the radio station as the two shared the studio for the daily call-in show. Rose said Hannon usually had with him a small Hardee’s cup filled with ice and diet Coke when he entered the radio station, a leftover from his earlier daily gathering of friends at the local restaurant.
The job, which was part time, resulted in Tom being at the radio station from 3 to 3.5 hours a day M-F.
“He had a way of carrying himself,” Rose said, a quality all-too-important for a local radio personality. He was opinionated, “but his opinion wasn’t based on what somebody else had said – it was based on what he thought,” Rose added.
“He was very confident about what he offered on the radio show, but he offered an opinion on the radio show that would generate calls.”
Those opinions were based on facts that Hannon recalled or on research he had done on the subject.
A favorite saying was “Often wrong, but never in doubt,” Rose said. Friend and former coworker Bill DiNicola said he sees that quote every day at his desk as well. DiNicola and Hannon hosted Sports Talk together between 2001 and 2005, and DiNicola recalled his friend as a “great role model” and “an example of a good person, a good man and a good citizen of his hometown.”
Folks may not have always agreed with Hannon and his opinions, but DiNicola said his friend always remained a gentleman.
“Without a doubt, there are certain people that come into your life and those people stay with you forever,” he told Rose during a call in to the show.
“They influence who you are and who you want to be.” For DiNicola, that man was Tom Hannon. “He was truly one of my most favorite people,” DiNicola said.
“On a near daily basis, Tom offered something that was extremely valuable…he was an ambassador for the radio station, both while he was on the air and in the community.”
Arrangements are by J.M. White Funeral Service. View the full obituary at jmwhitefuneralhome.com or on facebook.com/wizsradio.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church, P. O. Box 75, Henderson, NC 27536 or ACTS, P. O. Box 25, Henderson, NC 27536.
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