Radio community mourns loss of longtime WAPL host Rick McNeal

FOX VALLEY, Wis. (WBAY) - Rick Steenis, known on air as Rick McNeal, a longtime morning show host at 105.7 WAPL, died over the weekend following a brief illness. He was 67.

McNeal retired from WAPL in 2024 after spending decades on the air. He was known for his humor, comedic writing, and segments including his “Top Ten Lists” and “Small Town Crime Wave.”

Colleagues remember McNeal

“He was an absolute legend in the industry and especially our town,” said Decker, music director at WZOR and WAPL.

Decker said he grew up listening to McNeal on the air before eventually sharing the same studio with him.

“Rick’s top ten lists obviously were his biggest thing. The small town crime wave, that’s always classic just to dig up the most Wisconsin crime story you can find,” Decker said.

McNeal was paired with Len Nelson at the time of his hiring, a partnership that lasted decades. Nelson said he visited McNeal in the hospital before his passing.

“We’d stayed in contact and he was still the same old Rick at this point, dealing with a lot of stuff. He had his sense of humor and his irrelevant look at the world and you wouldn’t know he was suffering because he didn’t let on much,” Nelson, a former WAPL radio host, said.

After Nelson left WAPL, McNeal continued the morning show with Cutter, a current WAPL radio host.

“When I think of Rick he was very much that sarcastic person you heard on the radio but also he had one of the kindest, gentlest souls that you could possibly come across,” Cutter said.

Retirement and listener support

McNeal’s 2024 retirement was brought on by health issues. Listeners organized a fundraiser to help cover his medical expenses. In remarks aired on WAPL at the time of his retirement, McNeal addressed his audience directly.

“You the listeners by tuning into the radio, whether it was every day or once a month you gave me a career I never expected to have,” McNeal said.

WAPL is currently broadcasting its show from Jamaica this week, where the station aired a tribute honoring McNeal.

No funeral arrangements have been announced.