A memorial Mass for Maricopa resident and Country Music Association award-winning radio personality Ronald “Big Daddy” Bee is May 2 in Liverpool, New York.
Bee passed away March 18 in Seattle, Washington, after battling acute myeloid leukemia. He was 67.
A Vietnam War veteran, he was on the air for 35 years in central New York radio markets, including WOLF, WSEN and, most enduringly WBBS (B104.7) in Syracuse, where he was co-host of the “Ron and Becky Show” with Becky Palmer.
In 2004, “The Ron & Becky Show” won the CMA award for Best Radio Personalities in Medium Market.”
A traffic accident in 2007 ended Bee’s radio career when subsequent surgery damaged his vocal cords. Forced into retirement, he moved with his family to Maricopa in 2011.
Besides his wife Martina Ancona-Bee and son Jonathan, his many survivors include Maricopa residents – his sister Dorothy (Richard) Wales, nieces Kelly Wales-Bradley and Scott Bradley, great-nieces Morgan and Ava Bradley and great-nephew Cashel Bradley.
Arrangements are being handled by Hollis Funeral Home in Syracuse.
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