A longtime WSB Radio voice is gone.
Jon Lewis passed away Thursday related to complications following a brain hemorrhage over the summer. He was 56.
A reporter for News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB for the past 20 years, Jon was “one of those ultimate radio reporters,” Chris Camp, WSB News Director, says. “He was never looking to do TV. He was a radio geek. He had more war stories than anybody I have ever known.”
And for Camp, Lewis was an easy employee to oversee: “You give him an address, point him in the right direction and he knew how to sniff out a story.”
He noted that Lewis had previous health issues, including a leg amputation, but fought back. “He always had a positive outlook on everything,” he said.
Jon covered his last big story just a few months ago in Putnam County after two inmates killed two correctional officers and fled:
Audio from Jon’s coverage here.
Lewis, a native New Yorker, has been off the air for the past three months.
WSB’s Donna Hall, market manager for Cox Media Group’s Atlanta radio division, wrote a note to staff, in part: “I wanted to pass along some very sad news about our Jon Lewis. Most of you may be aware that he had a brain hemorrhage this past August and has been battling his way back but unfortunately, Jon passed away early this morning. We will certainly keep you posted on whether there will be services and I know you will keep Jon’s wife Abbie and their sons in your thoughts through this holiday season and beyond. Jon was a bright light and a good man and will be greatly missed.”
Reg Griffin, who worked with Lewis at WSB in 2011 and 2012, wrote on Facebook: “When Jon would start a sentence with, ‘Funny story…’ you knew that it would be. His style of reporting was a rare work of art.”
“It was a tough thing to stomach right before the holidays,” said Doug Turnbull, WSB traffic reporter. “He was a hard-nosed reporter, very analytical and skeptical.”
This news happened just a week after long-time WSB Radio reporter Richard Sangster retired after 26 years. WSB Radio has had its share of deaths, including traffic icon Capt. Herb Emory in 2014.
Jon was a “straight-ahead, old-style reporter and a good friend to all of us here for a long time,” WSB anchor Chris Chandler says, adding, “He was a storyteller – on the air and in real life.
“The station will miss his work, and we will miss our friend.”
Information from the AJC's Rodney Ho and WSB-TV was used in this report