WCCO Radio legend Roger Erickson dies at 89

Longtime WCCO Radio broadcaster Roger Erickson died Monday night.

Erickson was co-host of the Boone and Erickson morning show on WCCO Radio. It ran for 37 years, from the early '60s to the late '90s. The duo was known for their skits and school closing announcements. His co-host Charlie Boone died in 2015.

Erickson grew up on a farm near Winthrop, Minn. He learned radio at the University of Minnesota's KUOM and WAVN in Stillwater, Minn, according to the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame, where he was inducted as a charter member in 2001.

Erickson was perhaps the most beloved figure from the newsroom, said former WCCO Radio morning anchor and managing editor Steve Murphy.

"He was a Minnesotan through and through, and loved to laugh at life in Minnesota, especially in winter," Murphy said. "He'd go on the air in the morning, and give us the windshield index, not the wind chill index — telling us whether or not we could get the ice off the windshield with a credit card."

Murphy said he'd often find Erickson in the newsroom in the morning enjoying his typical breakfast of a cold hot dog while he pored over newspapers for items he could use in the day's gags.

"They loved to lampoon the governor, they loved to lampoon the Legislature, never in a mean-spirited way, and I think the audience really enjoyed it," Murphy said.

Erickson was 89.

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