Colin Glenn Brady

Colin G. Brady would sacrifice almost anything of himself to help make a radio show fun for his listeners.

For most of his life, Brady struggled with his weight. That was fair game for on-the-air jokes. He sometimes struggled in his two marriages: fair game. His voice, a little too high, a little too "not radio": fair game. His eating habits, such as the way he pulled pizza apart one bite at a time; his quirks and his obsessions, such as the day he drove up and down Interstate 4 on his motorcycle looking for a lost cellphone: all fair game.

Listeners to various talk-radio shows that Brady produced and hosted in Orlando and Tampa loved him for it, said radio personality Shannon Burke, who worked with Brady in Orlando and on the Internet Shannon Burke Show on RadioIO.com.

What many of those listeners might not have realized was that the butt of those jokes also was a serious, savvy radio producer who did extensive research to keep his conversations topical and humorous, and who worked ambitiously to secure top guests, such as then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Burke said.

Brady, 43, died Wednesday of cardiovascular disease, according to his wife, Sherry Brady.

"They all loved him very much," Burke said of the show's listeners. "Last week, they were calling the show crying. He was beloved, no doubt about it."

Brady's love was split between radio and his children. He fathered two - Zachary and Dante - with his first wife, Stacey Brady, and acquired three stepchildren - Samantha, Steven and Nick - when he married Sherry Brady five years ago. He is survived by them all, as well as a brother, Kevin Brady of New Haven, Conn.

"The most important things to him were kids and making everyone around him laugh," said friend Brant Parsons, community sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel.

Born Sept. 30, 1969, in Framingham, Mass., Brady grew up a die-hard fan of Boston sports, particularly the Red Sox.
He came to Orlando in 1987 to attend University of Central Florida, where he got a bachelor's degree in advertising, and then stayed to work in Central Florida radio. At various times, Brady worked at more than a half-dozen stations in Orlando and Tampa, including 660 AM (WORL) and Real Radio 104.1-FM, before recently moving with Burke to RadioIO.com last year.

"He was just a fun-loving guy. He loved Boston sports. He loved kids. He loved his kids. He loved his friends like they were family," said Sherry Brady.

And Brady loved radio, even with its jobs that came and went with ratings that rose and fell. He relished its trends, possibilities and personalities.

"It was his life," Burke said. "I lost my radio buddy. We could always talk about radio and the people in it."

Woodlawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Gotha, is in charge of arrangements.