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The longtime Hudson Valley radio host and voiceover artist, whose voice guided MTA commuters for decades, died Sunday, Nov. 3, at a Dutchess County hospice center in Poughkeepsie. He was 80 years old.
“The Family of Van Ritshie is sad to announce that ‘The Voice of the Hudson Valley’ has passed on to be with Jesus after a brief illness surrounded by family,” reads his obituary.
After earning his communications degree at Queensborough Community College in Queens in 1962, Ritshie embarked on a decades-long career as a voiceover artist, voicing narrations and characters for radio and television. He also mentored up-and-coming DJs and gave singing lessons.
From 2005 to 2008, he was The Golf Channel’s official image voice of the PGA Tour. He lent his chops to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and was the voice of the now-shuttered “Disaster!” ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Ritshie also enjoyed a successful career as a radio host in the Hudson Valley, including on WRNQ “Q92” from 1989 to 2004, and then WGNY “Oldies 98.9” from 2009 to 2017. Since March 2017, he served as morning show host for Orange County’s WALL (1340 AM) radio in Middletown.
“Van would announce birthdays on the radio to make that person feel extra special on their day," reads his memorial. “‘Hey, if you see so and so tell them Van Ritshie said happy birthday and have a great day,’ he would say.”
But it was perhaps his MTA work that people may know best. Since January 1995, Ritshie was the official voice of the agency, including the MNR and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), announcing upcoming stops and warning riders to "step over the gap" between the train and the platform.
Reddit and YouTube commenters were especially fond of his pronunciations of “Ronkonkoma” and “Massapequa.”
“RIP to a Long Island legend,” one YouTuber wrote.
Bud Williamson, president of WALL owner Neversink Media Group, remembered Ritshie as having a “big heart, in addition to his big voice.”
“I remember when talking to him about being part of the WALL Radio family, he expressed concern about the person he was replacing,” Williamson said on Facebook.
“He was comforted when I told him that person was not being replaced, only being moved to another morning show with no change in pay. He was happy to hear that because he had a big heart.”
Ritshie is survived by his wife of 44 years, Barbara, their three children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Funeral services had not been publicized as of Tuesday, Nov. 12.
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