10/03/2021
Sad day for Chicago radio...
With a heavy heart and a universal feeling of loss, we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our friend, our colleague, our fellow music lover and a truly exceptional human being John Farneda, Music Director and the heart of 93XRT, after a valiant yearlong battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. John passed last night with his mother Rose, brother Larry and spouse Fanie by his side. John was 59 years old. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the National MS Society (www.nationalmssociety.org) or Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org). The family will have a private ceremony.
WXRT is encouraging listeners, friends, colleagues and all who knew John or his work to share their fond memories of John on here as a comment in this post.
WXRT’s Lin Brehmer and Terri Hemmert share their fond memories of John:
Lin Brehmer: “Few people are blessed with the clarity John Farneda had for his future. He loved music and he wanted to work in radio. More than that, he wanted to work at WXRT. At Columbia College, he told his favorite teacher, Terri Hemmert, that one way or another he had to work at WXRT. That was over 40 years ago. His single-minded vision and tenacity led him to produce Terri Hemmert’s morning show. He became a crucial part of the station’s programming department in the 1980’s. He worked as the assistant Music Director and then the Music Director where he established himself as one of the most trusted and beloved radio professionals in the entire music business. He committed his life to radio because he loved the music. He might find himself entertaining Patti Smith or Tina Turner in his office before they would go in the studio for an interview. He was never interested in the spotlight. He never wanted a radio show. He just wanted to share the gifts of the music he valued. And he remains the greatest fan of the world’s greatest rock and roll band that we will ever know.”
Terri Hemmert: “John Farneda is my brother. I adopted him. I’m not the only one. If you knew John, he was your brother too. John was my student at Columbia College in the early 1980’s. He called me and tracked me down at XRT events until I finally gave him an internship at his favorite radio station. When he graduated I got on my knees and begged them to hire him. He produced my morning show for awhile, then worked in the music programming department until he worked his way up to be Music Director of his favorite radio station. He has been called the heart and soul of XRT. That is correct. If you had a problem, even if it wasn’t in his department, he’d help. Any time my computer freaked out, he’d come over. What I miss most is when I’d be doing a show, John would walk into the studio with a big smile, not say a word, come over and kiss me on the head, and leave. If you dealt with John as a Music Director, you found someone else to love. Just before he was diagnosed with cancer, I saw a carry-on bag in his office. I asked where he was going. After work he was flying to NYC for one night to say goodbye to a friend in the industry who was in her last days of her battle with cancer. When I was home after cancer surgery, he came and slept on my couch, made me breakfast, kept me company, and put lotion on my feet. That is true love. Plus he brought his laptop to download a lot of classical CD’s. When he took Rose, his amazing mother, to the airport for her trip to see family in Italy, he surprised her and made the trip with her. He was a loving son. He was a marvelous traveling companion. And great to go to a concert with. He was a lot of fun. When he first got involved with Fanie, he was afraid of having his heart broken again. We talked about it a lot. Fanie was so great, John kept saying it was too good to be true. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. After awhile he came to the realization that the other shoe would never drop. Fanie was his guardian angel till the end. When John would be down, Fanie would snap him out of it. And Fanie took good care of Rose as well. Ask her how much she loves Fanie. You’ll hear some great stories. Those two men took a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was suffering from neglect, and brought it back to life. And looking out those windows, John spent his last year seeing the world through an artist’s eyes. John is one of those irreplaceable people we are lucky enough to know. Everything he was involved with he made special. That house. WXRT. All of his many friendships. The Rolling Stones lost their biggest fan. And we lost a brother. Rest in peace, my brother. My precious Johnny Farneda.”
