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NATCHEZ — Many in the Miss-Lou are mourning the loss of Dave Kimbro, known better as Rosco on the Radio.

Kimbro worked for decades in radio at the stations of Listen Up Y’all Media, where he began at WNAT as a young man and later at WQNZ, where he spent most of his career.

Without a doubt, Kimbro’s voice was the most recognized in the Miss-Lou. He died Sunday after an illness.

Thousands responded on social media with tributes when they heard of Kimbro’s passing.

“I knew the voice before I knew the man,” said Brandon McCranie, who considers Kimbro a mentor and friend. McCranie is an on-air personality at 104.7 The Gator radio station.

“He was always present in our community,” he said. “Before I met him in person, I would think to myself, I would like to be on the radio like Rosco.”

It was as a teen-ager that McCranie met Kimbro. McCranie was working in a new Subway in Vidalia, and Kimbro came in to do a live remote at the restaurant.

“I remember thinking what a nice guy he was,” McCranie said.

“Skip ahead 20 years later and he and I were actually working together at 95 Country,” he said. “In the back of my mind, I remember thinking, now I’m going to see what Rosco on the Radio is really like, you know, when you separate the man from his radio personality. I can tell you in one word: Genuine. He is the same person. His radio personality was not an act. It wasn’t a character.

“He was selfless. I looked to him for advice. I don’t take criticism well, but he always managed to give me tips and advice without it sounding like criticism and that meant a lot to me,” McCranie said. “The time I spent with him at 95 Country was priceless. The information, tips, the subtle little things I learned from him. I was there when he met his wife, Deanna, and I know how happy he was that he found her. He was so, so happy.

“There are lots of egos in the radio business, but somehow he managed to be above all that. He taught me lots about the radio business and how to be a professional. I will always try to be like him, but I could try for 100 years and never achieve it. He set a very high bar,” McCranie said.