WVON Veteran Lucky Cordell Dies Nine Days After South Shore Fire
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Lucky Cordell, the former general manager for WVON 1690, died Tuesday night, more than a week after he and his 62-year-old daughter were critically injured in a house fire started by smoking materials.
Cordell, 86, was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
About 7:30 p.m. June 28, firefighters responded to a home in the 7300 block of South Euclid Avenue for a report of a fire and people trapped, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Jeff Lyle said at the time. Both were removed from the home and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. The fire was extinguished about a half-hour later, Lyle said.
Fire officials determined the next day that the fire was started by misuse of smoking materials. No smoke detectors worked on the second floor.
Moses "Lucky" Cordell joined WVON in 1965 and worked his way up to station general manager, the Sun-Times previously reported. He was part of the station's famous set of "Good Guys" personalities.
Lucky Cordell and his team "held Black Chicago captive" for more than ten years and consistently ranked in the top 5 of the most listened-to stations in the market, according to WVON's history section on its website.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
