On the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 27, Dale Goodman died. The name might be unfamiliar, but not his voice and not his radio personality name, Dale Mann.

Mann spent 50 years in radio, 30 of those years in Southwest Louisiana.

“Dale Mann was a radio legend in Southwest Louisiana. He had probably the most recognizable voice of any area radio personalities, and his programs were always No.1,” said George Swift, president/CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance.

Swift knows. Before he took up the economic development mantle in the early 2000s, he was in the broadcast business and competed against Mann. He said they relished telling each other funny radio stories, and after Mann retired from radio, he did public relations for Pumpelly Tire, attended every Chamber SWLA ribbon cutting and was a celebrity everywhere he went.

“Dale will always be remembered with his western hat and booming voice. Not many folks in radio stay in the market for their career, but Dale did and he was beloved by all.”

Local artist and Calcasieu Parish Police Juror Judd Bares, said it was Mann who paved the way for his music career in an era when that was still possible

“It was a  time when having your name mentioned by a DJ meant something,” Bares said. “Dale Mann was the last of the influential DJs, Southwest Louisiana’s Wolfman Jack. If he said your name, it meant something.”

Mann retired in 2014, and told another media outlet that he planned to spend more time with his children’s kids than he spent with them.

“Dale was emcee for many of our balls and was  to be honored this year as a Lord of the Mardi Gras Museum for a 12th Night event,” said Ann Monlezun, founder and president of the Mardi Gras Museum. “He was so popular and knew so many people. He will be missed.”

In Dale Mann’s Gator 99 final sign-off before his 2014 retirement, available online on YouTube, “Happy Trails to You” is playing in the background. Mann concludes the video with, “It’s been a great life and I’ve enjoyed most of it, with emphasis on most. It’s time to step down and let someone else have some fun and I hope to see you down the road real soon.”