Memorials for ‘Radio’ offer last chance to say goodbye to South Carolina legend
Fans will have a last chance to say goodbye to the man known as “Radio.”
Funeral arrangements and memorial services have been made for James “Radio” Kennedy, who died Sunday in Hospice care.
Before a funeral service is held Saturday, “Radio will lie in state at his beloved T.L. Hanna High School on Friday,” according to his obituary.
Kennedy will be honored with that memorial from 5 to 8 p.m., it said in the obituary.
Before that, friends are invited to pay their respects to Kennedy during viewings at the McDougald Funeral Home. Those will be held each of the next three days, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and an 8:30-10 a.m. viewing before the event at the high school, according to the funeral home.
The funeral service for Kennedy will be held at 2 p.m. at the Civic Center of Anderson, and a burial in Forest Lawn Memorial Park will follow, according to the obituary.
Kennedy had been hospitalized earlier in the month because of “pancreatitis, along with ongoing diabetes and kidney issues,” WYFF reported.
The 73-year-old never played for the Yellow Jackets, but rose to fame roaming their sidelines in the Upstate. Kennedy even was the subject of a Hollywood movie appropriately titled “Radio.”
He got the nickname because “the mentally challenged” teen who barely spoke would show up on the football field in the 1960s “with a transistor radio seemingly attached to his ear,” former principal Sheila Hilton wrote in an essay.
He became a fixture mimicking coaches and displaying an encyclopedic memory for high school football mascots across South Carolina, growing into much more than a fan favorite — but truly a part of the family for six decades, Hilton said.
“He loved the school, football and all of the students, faculty and coaches who came through,” his obituary said. “Radio was loved by many and will forever leave an impact on those who knew him and those who only knew his story.”
Kennedy’s story drew attention from around the world, as he was profiled in Sports Illustrated, Readers’ Digest, ESPN, and CBS News, according to Hilton.
The Sports Illustrated story was the basis of the 2003 movie that brought stars Cuba Gooding Jr., as Radio, and Ed Harris to Anderson. Harris portrayed former T.L. Hanna football coach Harold Jones, who became a surrogate father for Kennedy, and the movie focused on their relationship.
In addition to Jones, Kennedy is survived by his brother, George Allen “Cool Rock” Kennedy and niece Jackie Kennedy, who was one of his primary caretakers, among many other relatives, according to the obituary.
