Ronn Owens was a KGO AM radio staple for nearly 50 years in San Francisco, though retired in 2021, and is now facing enormous medical bills from four bouts with cancer, a heart condition, and a more than 20-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Back when radio was big, its biggest star in San Francisco was KGO AM’s Ronn Owens. Owens arrived at KGO in 1975, and his news-talk format Ronn Owens Program would eventually draw hundreds of thousands of listeners on weekdays. Even when KGO fired all of their staff in 2011 and went to an otherwise completely syndicated format, they still kept Owens on the air in the 9 am-to-noon slot, as he was the station’s golden goose. Owens retired from KGO in 2021.
Now the Bay Area News Group reports that Owens is now facing significant health challenges, after several bouts with cancer, a serious heart condition, and the Parkinson's disease he was diagnosed with in 2001.
“You all know I’ve been living with Parkinson’s for 23 years,” Owens said in a New Year’s Eve Facebook post. “What you might not know is that life has thrown a few more punches my way—four bouts of cancer, most recently colon cancer, and some serious heart issues. It’s been a rough road, and honestly, it’s hard to admit that the financial strain has become overwhelming on top of everything else.”
While Owens had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2001, he had been private about his diagnosis, only going public with it after Robin Williams’ suicide in 2014, when we learned that Williams too was suffering from early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
Ronn Owens is now retired in Arizona, and a GoFundMe to help with his mounting medical bills has currently raised more than $23,000 in its first three days online. “These medical struggles have taken a toll, both physically and financially, on the man who has been a pillar of strength for so many,” the crowdfunding page says.
As for KGO 810 AM radio, it’s not even KGO anymore. The station abandoned its news format in 2022 in favor of some gambling-themed format called “810 The Spread.” That was apparently not very successful either. As of January 1, KGO retired its call letters and will broadcast the KSFO content of news-talk, albeit very right-wing news-talk.
Image: Ronn Owens via Facebook
