Richard Milne

Richard Milne, a 36-year veteran of WXRT 93.1-FM, has resigned as morning host at the Audacy adult album alternative station to care for his ailing wife.

Milne told colleagues in an email his last day on the air will be June 10. He left the door open for a possible return, but said his full attention would be on his wife, Charlene Milne, who has frontotemporal dementia. She has been in hospice care since April.

"It’s long been my intention to be with Charlene through every moment of our remaining time together," he wrote. "Sadly, the end is coming more quickly than I ever would have guessed and now is the time for me to fully step away."

Until earlier this month Milne was on leave for five weeks before returning to the morning show he has hosted since 2020. The couple met in 1988 when Charlene was in sales at XRT.

Greg Solk, vice president of programming and operations for Audacy Chicago, said a replacement for Milne would be announced soon.

"I’m thankful for the opportunity to have become a day-to-day player, working alongside the most talented people in this business," Milne wrote in his email. "Every day has been inspired and rewarding.

"I do intend to return some day, host the occasional 'Flashback,' maybe do that Sunday afternoon thing again. We’ll see. Regardless, that won’t be until after a long period of mourning and reflection."

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, mornings on XRT ranked 10th with a 3.2 percent share and cumulative weekly audience of 220,400.