The antidote to forced cheeriness on the radio, Gus Mircos was a Denver media fixture for decades. The longtime KOA morning voice died Sunday at age 70 after suffering lung cancer.
When Mircos was fired from KOA in 1997, leaving Steve Kelley (now on KDVR-Channel 31) to take the reins of the chatty “Colorado Morning News,” listeners complained that they missed “Grumpy Gus.”
The 22-year veteran was celebrated on the station’s comment line then; he is being remembered by listeners and colleagues on the station’s website now.
On the air, Mike Rosen, a KOA veteran, saluted his former colleague with a tape of Mircos reciting “Casey at the Bat.”
News director Jerry Bell remembered his “pipes” in an on-air report today, with input from associates Ed Greene, Keith Weinman, Carol McKinley (now a Fox-31 News reporter) and others. Some recalled his salty language that sometimes got through on the airwaves.
“He was the curmudgeon and a little bit of a bad boy,” Bell said in the broadcast. Colleagues recalled him as a softie on the inside.
“Gus was an institution in Denver,” said Kris Olinger, manager of Clear Channel’s AM stations in Denver. “He was the voice on KOA for 22 years. People were used to waking up to him. He had a great voice, dry wit and was great to listen to.”
Mircos started his broadcasting career in 1959 on Longmont’s KLMO as a disc jockey. In 1963, he joined KHOW doing afternoon drive, then covered weekend sports for Channel 4.
According to KOA, the family has asked that contributions be sent to the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center in Mircos’ memory. (One of his daughters suffers from MS.)
Mircos is survived by his wife, Myrna; a son, Dean; three daughters, Kari, Marto and Nicolle; and five grandchildren, all of Frederick.
A spokeswoman for Howell Mortuary in Longmont said funeral arrangements were pending.
