Rush Limbaugh, Cape native and broadcasting pioneer, dies

Rush Hudson "Rusty" Limbaugh III, 70, a 1969 Cape Girardeau Central graduate and 32-year host of his own internationally known and eponymously named radio program, has died because of complications from lung cancer, his widow, Kathryn Limbaugh, revealed on the fabled broadcaster's show Wednesday.

Limbaugh, who was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 1998, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Donald Trump a year ago.

He was recalled by friends and family as a hero, as street smart, as a savior of AM radio and as generous and thoughtful.

Politicians' testimonials

Many political figures have issued statements praising the commentator.

"(Rush) is a legend, he really is," said Trump, after learning of the conservative icon's passing.

"Those people who listen to him every day, it was like a religious experience for a lot of people," the 45th U.S. president added.

Missouri's senior U.S. senator, Roy Blunt, said Limbaugh stayed "grounded in his Missouri roots and Midwest values."

Blunt also made note of the remarkable arc of Limbaugh's life.

"From his first job in high school as a radio personality in Cape Girardeau to the EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) Network, Rush Limbaugh changed the way Americans talked about issues every day. He reshaped talk radio and became one of the most powerful conservative voices in our country."

Missouri's junior senator, Josh Hawley, said "(Limbaugh) lived the First Amendment and told hard truths that made the elite uncomfortable, but made sure working men and women had a seat at the table."

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-8th District) said, "(Limbaugh) was a hero who created a movement and gave conservatives a voice inspiring millions around the country."

Gov. Mike Parson said, "I spoke with (Limbaugh's) family and we talked of Rush's legacy in our state and across the nation."

Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, added: "Rush often said he had talent on loan from God. He understood that our gifts on this earth are not our own -- they're a blessing. He shared his gifts with all of us and we'll miss him dearly."

Family

Limbaugh's sibling, conservative political commentator and lawyer David Limbaugh wrote a 2020 column about his brother after news broke of Rush's advanced lung cancer.

"I have to say while I've always known Rush is strong, I've never seen anything like how he has handled his diagnosis. He has honestly shown no concern for himself. His overriding concern is for his audience, his family and his friends.

Radio host Rush Limbaugh takes the stage to introduce President Donald Trump during a Make America Great Again rally Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file

"He is determined not to let any of us down. He seems more concerned about how this news will impact me than how it is affecting him. I am not exaggerating. He has shown more grace and class in this time than I would have thought possible. I couldn't be prouder of him -- and I'm even prouder that he is my brother," the younger Limbaugh wrote.

Limbaugh's first cousin, U.S. District Judge Steven N. Limbaugh Jr., at the invitation of the Southeast Missourian, wrote about his personal hero in a Dec. 29 story.

"I admire my cousin, Rush Limbaugh, not only for his immense success, but also for his strength of spirit. He is now battling a terminal illness with much fortitude. It is all the more remarkable that he approaches his fate not with bitterness, but with gratefulness. Borrowing from baseball great Lou Gehrig, Rush told his radio audience that he is the luckiest man on earth and that he is thankful to God."

Rush Limbaugh reacts after first Lady Melania Trump presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington. Second lady Karen Pence is at left and Kathryn Limbaugh is partially hidden.Patrick Semansky ~ Associated Press

Friends

During Limbaugh's youth, his family often gathered for picnics with two other Cape Girardeau families -- the Kinders and the Johnsons.

Former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a childhood friend, recalled Rush's delight in a special parental gift -- a Caravelle AM radio transmitter and receiver while the Limbaughs lived on Sunset Street, near Southeast Hospital.

In the February edition of the Limbaugh Letter newsletter, Limbaugh wrote of that long-ago device:

"I would take (the Caravelle) upstairs and play deejay with it, put it next to the turntable so it could pick up the music, and my mother would actually sit down and listen to me on the radio pretend to be a disc jockey. I (had known) what I wanted to do when I was eight years old."

In the column, Limbaugh wrote about his early love for the medium.

"Till then, I had quit pretty much everything else I had tried. I was a tenderfoot Boy Scout for a year. That's unheard of. The first campout I got the Gold Brick Award, which went to the least useful person on the trip. I had quit everything but my affinity for radio."

Kinder called Limbaugh "a phenomenon."

"No one has ever done what this talented son of Cape Girardeau did -- started a new form of radio, a three-hour show without guests and took it national.

"I have personally spoken with station owners across America who credit Rush and his show with not just saving their stations but with making them millionaires. Rush saved AM radio, an industry that was slowly dying in the '80s," Kinder continued.

Lea Johnson Renfro graduated with Limbaugh from Cape Girardeau Central High School.

"I always called him Rusty," said Renfro, who lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"He was my first car date," she added, "and he had a sporty little car, and we went to the movies and drove around and talked."

Renfro recalled many connections with the legendary radio host and his family.

"(Rush and I) went to the same church, Centenary United Methodist, had Rush's dad (Rush Limbaugh Jr.) as our Sunday school teacher and I stood next to his mother, Millie, in the choir," Renfro remembered.

"Rusty was a nice guy (and) I remember him being pretty sure of himself," she noted.

Renfro's younger sister, Beth Johnson Thompson of Cape Girardeau, recalled a pickup football game at one of the Limbaugh-Kinder-Johnson family picnics.

"My brother Larry threw me a pass and I was running to the end zone and Rusty and James Kinder sandwiched me before I got there," Thompson said.

"So, to this day, I tell people I was tackled by Rush Limbaugh," she added.

Industry colleagues

"Whether you agreed with him or disagreed, he was influential and, at times, controversial," said Mike Renick, general manager of Mississippi River Radio in Cape Girardeau, whose radio groups carries Limbaugh's syndicated show on KZIM in Cape Girardeau and KSIM in Sikeston, Missouri.

"Rush was the centerpiece (in the schedule), there's no doubt," he added.

"If there were interruptions of his program, we'd get calls and inquiries right away asking what was going on," Renick said. "Some of it had to do with him being a Cape native but, as the numbers bear out nationally, he was at the top of the mountain as far as conservative talk shows go."

Limbaugh launched into national syndication in 1988 and one of his early co-workers recalled him fondly.

"From the moment I met Rush, I found out he would be one of the most generous and thoughtful people I would ever know," said Kitty O'Neal, KFBK news host who worked closely with Limbaugh in Sacramento, California.

A few local notes

• Shined shoes at College Barber Shop, 1125 Broadway, at age 13.
• Disc jockey at radio station KGMO in Cape Girardeau, known as Rusty Sharpe.
• Delivered commencement address at his alma mater, Cape Girardeau Central High School, in June 1989 (returned to speak at the 1992 and 1996 ceremonies).
• Performed at benefit for Jackson resident Patty McQuay at the Show Me Center, who was battling breast cancer, in June 1990.
• "Rush room" opens at Rutherford's Restaurant, 2001 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau, in November 1993, where diners could eat lunch and listen to Limbaugh's program. (Note: A "Rush room" was added at Southeast Missouri State University's University Center in September 1994.)
• Limbaugh broadcast many shows from KZIM in Cape Girardeau in the month preceding the death of his mother, Millie, in March 2000.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders contributed to this story.