Monday was a difficult day for a lot of people in Dayton, Ohio. Mark Schlemmer passed away in hospice care at the age of 65. Schlemmer had open heart surgery in April and had been hospitalized since the surgery.
Schlemmer joined 980 WONE-AM as a baseball insider in 2007 where he began his radio career. By the following year, he had his own show from 6-8 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday.
“The best part of sports-talk radio is the interaction with fans,” he told Chick Ludwig for a Dayton Daily News story in 2008. “I love all the calls from our audience, which keeps growing. It’s not my show. It’s the callers’ show. It’s important to keep that in mind.”
In 2011, Schlemmer lost his job at WONE but returned to sports talk radio with WING-AM in 2018 and hosted a weekday show from 3-6 p.m. with Justin Kinner. He stayed with the station until March 2020 when he announced he was retiring because of health issues.
1410 WING-AM’s Facebook page posted a condolences statement acknowledging Schlemmer’s passing and contributions to the station.
Former co-host Justin Kinner penned a goodbye on Twitter saying, “He started out as my co-host & he ended as one of my closest and best friends, We all knew this day was coming. It doesn’t make it one bit easier. Thanks for everything, Mark Schlemmer. The laughs & memories will never be forgotten. Your pain is gone. RIP my friend.”
Schlemmer played in the Detroit Tigers farm system, reaching Single-A. He was an assistant coach at the University of Dayton for two seasons before being named head coach in 1989. He stepped down just before the 1993 season and then spent four years managing in the independent Northern League.
