Just one month after joining MARC Radio Classic Country “106.9 I Am Country” WPLL Cross City/Gainesville FL as morning host, Heather Jennings was killed in a head-on collision on her way to the station early Tuesday morning.
WCJB-TV reports that a 30-year-old woman from Gainesville heading southbound veered her car into the northbound lanes colliding head-on with Jennings and killing both. Jennings was 57.
Jennings joined WPLL in early November after spending five years in mornings at WGUL FM Inc. Country “Z103.3/104.3” WXCZ Cedar Key/WXZC Inglis FL. She had spent the majority of her adult career in motorcycle sales.
MARC Radio released the following statement regarding Jennings:
An hour before sunrise today, I Am Country morning DJ Heather Jennings was driving to work on the country roads of Alachua County when her sedan was met head-on by another vehicle. She did not survive.
We knew something was very wrong at 6 a.m. when patriotic Heather wasn’t standing at her mic, hand over her heart, proudly leading her audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. It was time to begin her signature broadcast, “The Heather Jennings Morning Show,” but instead her booth was silent. Then we got the dreaded phone call confirming that it was indeed Heather in that double-fatality crash. It’s a phone call we’ll never forget. We’re still grappling with the reality of that news, fervently praying for her two daughters, Dixie and Jacy, whom she loved beyond measure.
It was barely a month ago when we welcomed her cheerful, creative personality to the MARC Radio airwaves. Our November 5th company press release, accompanied by a beautiful picture of her in our studio, reflected Heather’s enthusiasm for her first day at the station. It read in part: “You may recognize her as that woman on the Harley cruising down the back roads of Alachua County singing out loud to her favorite musical artists. “Country music is hands-down the soundtrack of my life, and I’ll help you make it yours, too,” said Heather.”
We are having a hard time realizing that the halls of our radio station will no longer reverberate with Heather’s voice singing along, word-for-word, with every song we air. She sang with enthusiasm, and yes, always on key.
We lost Heather this morning. Before we shared our grief with you, we wanted to be certain that Heather’s family and closest friends had been informed first.
Now we’re struggling to find the words to write about this friend we cherished. Not very many people can make the kind of impression that Heather Jennings did in just one short month. But as a professional broadcaster, she quickly made her mark.
We join her family, her friends and her listeners all over Gainesville in the incomprehensible loss of her young life and her distinctive on-air presence.
There was a void on our airwaves this morning. And it will be there again tomorrow and forever after. But we are a company built on faith.
Today the airwaves of heaven got even sweeter. We’ll miss you, Heather.
