Listeners of WSB-AM tuned in Sunday morning expecting to hear Mike Kavanagh's distinct voice live and on-air. Instead, they learned the respected host of "Money Matters" had died Saturday.
Mr. Kavanagh, 57, died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Alpharetta while he and his family were decorating for the holidays, said Condace Pressley, the station's assistant program director.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable Sunday.
"Mike was probably one of the warmest, most caring individuals any of us at WSB will ever know," Pressley said. "He was the picture of honesty and integrity, and was that authoritative dependable voice that is the radio station."
Mr. Kavanagh, a founding member of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, was a 40-year veteran of radio and TV. He'd worked in Washington, D.C., New York and Atlanta. He was a CNN radio anchor as well as a TV anchor for CNN News, according to a wsbradio.com profile.
In the late 1980s, Mr. Kavanagh came to WSB, where he spent 15 years alongside Lisa Campbell as co-anchor of the station's evening news program. "Money Matters with Mike Kavanagh" debuted in 1990. It aired 9 to 11 a.m. on Sundays.
Since the late 1980s, he'd also spent time working as a fee-only certified financial planner at Capital Investment Advisors Inc. in Atlanta. Two years ago, he began to concentrate solely on "Money Matters" and special projects, Pressley said.
Mr. Kavanagh recently had been promoting "Breakfast with Santa," a fund-raiser scheduled for Saturday at Stone Mountain Park for his favorite charity — Friends of Disabled Adults and Children.
On the air Sunday morning, fill-in host Mark Arum said Mr. Kavanagh loved the holidays. He'd had Santa Claus as a "Money Matters" guest on Nov. 23. Listeners called in and told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
WSB replayed that show Sunday morning as part of a tribute to the award-winning anchor and Notre Dame fan.
"Only Mike would think to interview Santa Claus," Arum told listeners. "His cheer was always up quite a bit this time of the year. Words don't do justice to what he meant to the WSB family and to his listeners here."
Throughout the morning, WSB fielded calls from listeners and admirers and aired taped comments of radio personalities about the University of Massachusetts grad all day long.
"He loved work; I love my leisure time," said consumer adviser Clark Howard. "Mike loved every opportunity he had to work with people every single day."
"Kim," a caller to the Ilyce Glink show, said she'd sought Mr. Kavanagh out for financial advice; he never charged a fee.
"I have had multiple appointments with him, and if I got home and still didn't understand something, I would e-mail," she said. "When I would get the e-mails back, the level of detail -- there would be pages. Far more than I expected."
Pressley, the station's assistant producer, said she and other WSB staff members were planning to finish decorating the Kavanagh's family tree Sunday evening.
Survivors include his wife, Grace Kavanagh; daughter, Melissa Kavanagh; mother, Kathleen Kavanagh of New York; a brother, Roger Kavanagh and a sister, Ilene Cooke; and one grandchild.
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