Tributes flow in following death of P.E.I. radio personality Kerri Wynne MacLeod
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Tributes flowed in on Feb. 27 following the demise of Charlottetown radio persona Kerri Wynne MacLeod.
MacLeod, who had been a broadcaster on Ocean 100 since 2006, died Feb. 26 on the age of 57, following a short sickness.
“I’m simply devastated,” former Ocean 100 voice Kirk MacKinnon informed SaltWire Community in a phone interview on Feb. 27. “She had time for everyone. She is solely irreplaceable. She would at all times put others forward of her. She went out of her method to ensure folks have been OK when she wasn’t.”
MacKinnon mentioned MacLeod was his greatest pal.
“She made you’re feeling immediately comfy, immediately acknowledged and particular,” MacKinnon mentioned, his voice cracking. “She had such a present of exhibiting her coronary heart and wrapping it round you.”
Scott Chapman, the information director and programming supervisor of Ocean 100 and Sizzling 105.5, mentioned MacLeod had an infectious persona that appealed to everybody.
“She knew all people in Prince Edward Island, and everybody cherished her,” mentioned Chapman, including that when MacLeod joined Ocean 100 full-time she was nonetheless emceeing three occasions every week regardless of having to be on the air the subsequent morning at 6 a.m.
“She was only a pure and had a deep love of Prince Edward Island.”
Please be a part of us by listening in tomorrow at 7am @Ocean100 #PEI 🎶🎙️❤️https://t.co/gw5njyfbhn pic.twitter.com/LLMO1weQps
— Corey Tremere (@PEICorey) February 27, 2023
Jennifer Evans, the director of operations for Stingray, the corporate which owns Ocean 100 and Sizzling 105.5, mentioned MacLeod can be remembered as a unprecedented broadcaster and expertise.
“Whether or not you met Kerri Wynne at a information convention or within the grocery retailer, she was at all times Kerri Wynne,” Evans mentioned. “She at all times took the time for each individual. That’s her legacy.”
Lengthy earlier than MacLeod grew to become a broadcaster, she was concerned within the leisure trade, performing in dinner theatre or different leisure occasions, in addition to singing at numerous weddings and funerals over time.
P.E.I. entertainer Kendall Docherty mentioned MacLeod was one in all a sort.
“She had an enormous smile and fun however what I’ll keep in mind her essentially the most for is her singing voice,” Docherty in a Fb message to SaltWire Community Feb. 27. “Kerri had one of many sweetest voices. It was highly effective, with a variety like none I’ve ever heard from anybody else.”
Docherty mentioned when MacLeod sang gospel it was prefer it got here from a deep a part of her soul.
We miss you a lot 😢 https://t.co/Vrv3FsH2uq
— Ocean 100 (@Ocean100) February 27, 2023
Doug Gallant, a music columnist for SaltWire Community, mentioned he can’t think about going via the remainder of his life by no means listening to MacLeod’s infamous chortle.
“When she laughed the entire room knew who it was they usually laughed along with her,” Gallant mentioned in a Fb message.
MacLeod additionally carried out the Island Hymn at Pink Shores on the Charlottetown Driving Park for a number of years as a part of the Gold Cup and Saucer Race.
“We’re all mourning the lack of a really particular particular person who not solely performed an element in our signature occasion within the Gold Cup and Saucer however she was a harness racing fan,” mentioned Lee Drake, supervisor of racing and broadcast for Pink Shores. “You could possibly hear a pin drop when she carried out the Island Hymn.”
Premier Dennis King mentioned whether or not she was performing O Canada or the Island Hymn when MacLeod had a microphone, it felt just like the world stopped.
“Everybody listened,” King mentioned in a information launch on Feb. 27. “Everybody felt each word she hit, each joke she made and each message she delivered.”
At a look
- Ocean 100 will air a particular tribute and celebration of Kerri Wynne MacLeod’s broadcasting profession at 7 a.m. on Feb. 28.
Dave Stewart is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He might be reached by e mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @DveStewart.
