BREAKING: Beloved BBC Radio Presenter Dies Aged 72 After Cancer Battle CQ1💔

A FORMER BBC radio presenter has died at the age of 72 after a brave battle with cancer.

Dave Monk, who presented programmes on BBC Essex for almost four decades, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2024.

He recently announced the disease had returned before his tragic death.

Monk, whose real name was David Travis, was among the original broadcasters on BBC Essex when it started airing from Chelmsford in November 1986.

The broadcaster was involved in covering some of Essex’s most significant memories, including being the designated first local voice on air after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He also interviewed dozens of famous figures, including Sir Tony Blair, Dame Vera Lynn, and Sir Paul McCartney.

Dave was also heavily involved in charitable work, supporting Havens Hospices, Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome, Parkinson’s UK and Colchester men’s health charity CHAPS.

And he was a patron of Remus Horse Sanctuary and Open Road, a drug and alcohol recovery service.

Dave broadcast for the final time before retiring in September 2023, concluding his show with the song Goodbye-ee by Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.

In his final link, he told his listeners: “Look after yourself, have a lot of fun, and don’t forget, the more you laugh, the more you live. Goodbye.”

Tributes have since poured in for the legendary radio presenter.

Robert Thompson, interim director of production at BBC Local, said Monk was the “voice of Essex” and had a “remarkable impact on the county”.

He told the BBC: “From solicitor to broadcaster, there was nothing Dave couldn’t do, and he taught us all to grab hold of every opportunity and go after it.”

Meanwhile, Chelmsford City Football Club chairman Spencer Gore said: “Very sad to hear the news. Such a lovely guy.

“I remember him fondly from our time on the board together at Inspire.”

In one memorable moment of his career, radio host Monk uncovered the shocking truth about his grandfather during a 2011 feature on family history with Essex Records Office (ERO).

The Canadian airman had died in a World War One plane crash back in 1916.

Sarah Ensor, formerly of ERO, dug out a photograph of Kenneth Mathewson and revealed the findings live on air.

“It brought tears to my eyes, it was a very emotional moment. I had to fill the time when he didn’t know what to say… I think he was completely blindsided by the whole thing,” she said.

Monk later travelled to Canada to meet relatives he never knew existed, part of a special BBC Essex programme aired in 2015.

Fast-forward a few years, and Monk found himself meeting none other than French President Emmanuel Macron at an Armistice centenary commemoration – after the president’s team learned about his family history.

In his book, published earlier this year, Monk described feeling “elated” at introducing his “newly-found” late grandfather to Macron.