Trucking radio legend, Bill Mack, died on Friday. The Midnight Cowboy Trucking Show host had tested positive for COVID-19 two days prior.
According to Mack’s son, Billy Mack Jr., his father, had been living in a memory care facility that treated him like family. He had been living with dementia, but his family says that he was still very much himself.
“You hear stories of nursing homes and people getting infected, but you never thought that would happen,” Mack Jr. told NBCDFW.
On Wednesday, Mack was diagnosed with COVID-19. Taken immediately to the hospital, doctors told his family the 91-year-old didn’t have much time. Due to his COVID-19 diagnosis, the family was not allowed in to see him and had to say their goodbyes over the phone.
“He couldn’t speak very well, but his sense of humor was still there,” Mack Jr. said. “One of the things that he told us, ‘Guys, will you please pull yourselves together you’re embarrassing me in front of the nurse.’”
Most veteran truckers would know Mack mostly as the country radio host with an unmistakable voice. But Mack was also a musician whose songs have been covered by numerous other artists over the years. His best-known song is likely “Blue,” which was covered most famously by LeAnn Rimes in 1996 and won a Grammy for Country Song of the Year.
“I’m deeply saddened to tell you that my Dad passed away early this morning due to COVID-19 with underlying conditions,” wrote Billy Mack Jr. on Facebook. “He was an amazing father, grandfather, great grandfather and husband to my mom. I’m blessed to have had not only a great dad but my best friend as well. He truly will be missed. God bless.”
Source: overdrive, startelegram, nbcdfw, wbap, facebook
Due to underlying conditions and also tested positive for COVID. I think it should be said that way.
I agree!
Covid and what else?
Age. It will eventually kill you….
We all have been wormed, 1 way or another, GOD said in the Bible, before his return, it will be like Birth pains, Wars N rumors of wars, Pestilence, , and the list goes on. There is ONLY 1 way a person can be ready when JESUS Sounds that TRUMPET and shouts,” come on up church” and that to ask GOD to forgive you of your sins and put him FIRST! You cannot go to GOD unless you Go through his Son, JESUS! We still are going to face 2 more, worse then this Coronavirus, and 1 of them will Destroy our Drinking water,( so start stocking up on water) what those Viruses are that’s coming, I have No clue, but all my info comes from the book of Revelation, but if your ready to meet JESUS, then you have NOTHING TO FEAR! If not, it’s very simple, you must mean it from your heart and say,” Dear JESUS, please forgive me of all my sins, known & unknown, come into my heart and I make you LORD of my Life” that’s it! You can find that in the book of JOHN3:3, it says, unless a man is Born Again he CANNOT see the kingdom of GOD or Heaven! Ask your self this question, if you were to pass away now, do you know where you would spend Eternity? As I use to say when I talked to another driver and we had to part ways, I use to say” OK driver, you have a Blessed day, and I’ll see ya , here, there, or In the Air” B-Sade, ( at that time in the 1980s and early 1990s, my C-B handle was COLORADO) y’all have a blessed day, if you make the right choice, then , “I’ll see ya here, there, or In the AIR” 🦅🙏🏾🙏🙌🏾🙌🐑🩸
I pray for deliverance every day. Psalms 109:8
Right back at ya driver God speed some of the best conversations I ever had back in the day . No one does that anymore catch you on the flip – side Ridge Rider out
🙌
Why the bleep couldn’t his family see him?
Right! I don’t get that at all.
So they won’t get the virus. Standard procedure these days
Go from seeing him one day to not being able to see him the next is BS. If he had covid, it was there for a while and everyone had already been exposed.
Good point … sir
Because all Covid patients in the hospitals and rest homes cannot see anyone. All are side by side in icu with other patients who are also sick and coughing. That’s why the nurses wear so much protective gear. Watch your news!
Well then why can’t the immediate family see them to say their goodbyes as long as they wear protective gear? You can’t even attend their funeral either, that is, unless you are going to the funeral of a Democratic House member.
News?
Aww man, that’s sad. I remember trying to find his station sometimes in the middle of the night years ago before satellite radio came along. He truly was a huge fan of truck drivers and didn’t like it when someone outside the industry talked about or did anything bad to us. RIP Bill.
Wow such sadness he helped me many a day truck across America Rest In Peace Bill Mack
He WILL be missed!
“with underlying conditions”. Found in last paragraph. 94% of Covid deaths are because of already existing health conditions. Don’t let the WHO agenda trick you.
Paul…here in Milwaukee, about 3 or 4 nuns passed away at their Motherhouse….yep…COVID….Two were over 100 years old!
back when i first started. i would listen in on hos show. told great stories. an had interesting interviews. RIP.
RIP Bill you will surely be missed
He was great kept me awake many nights out on the road he will be missed i will pray for you all and God bless you all
I’m betting he died WITH it, not FROM it. This virus is nowhere near what we’ve been told it is. Otherwise everybody would be dead months ago. People who haven’t even been tested are being notified that they tested positive…..the positive test rate where I live is 0.02%. That’s even slimmer odds than finding the needle in a haystack. Personally, I refuse to wear a mask and I haven’t changed my daily habits one bit. Guess what? No virus here……
Amen brother
Same. I agree.
Hey HARLEY, my ANSER to you is “YET” if you have any caring for others, then that’s what the mask is for, to protect OTHERS! Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!! GOD is trying to wake people like YOU UP!! I suggest you listen! MR. Know- it – ALL!!🦅
Ms Eagle, you should change your name to “No Nothing Ms Sheeple”.
I live in Dallas county. My friend don’t be fooled. My cousin’s daughter came down with it at church summer camp. And my Boss came down with it.It is real and with your attitude and not believing , This is where our country’s problem persist Please tell me your more smarter than this. I’ve seen it.
Id be cautious still. If your coughing wear a mask. If your feeling sick stay inside. Utting a little distance between yourself and others is a safe thing you can do. I have a Surgical Tech background so I been looking at how we are passing on Covid and I believe most people will contract Covid thru contaminated surfaces and then getting it to your face with your hands or on that mask you just put on. Fiddling with masks is putting your hands and possibly contaminated mask right there where Covid can can kiss you on your face! So wash your hands and dont touch your face till you do! My wifes a 48yr Covid RN-Bsn Nurse and just tested + for Covid last Wednesday. She contracted it from work. Im a 54yr truck driver and have been outta work for a month due to the slowdown in energy sector and I just tested Covid + this Wednesday. Wife only spent 1 day having serious symptoms of low O2sat levels being at 95% or lower and temps over 100f. Her treatment is hydroxychloriquine and zpack and zinc vitamin d3. We started sharing her treatment meds and i started showing symptoms by friday O2sat levels between 92-93%. Temps spiking to 102.8. Worst and most frightening were the cold sweats like Ive never had! Soaked towels we laid out under us and on pillow and clothes. Keeping hydrated with Pedialite and water and teas and soups. Sweats would come in cycles of 6hrs and tylenol controlled them. Add shortness of breath and it gets spooky. Taking vitals every 2-4hrs with pulse/Ox O2sat finger monitor to get heartrate and oxygen levels and infrared temperature gun. Checked blood pressure a few times also. We spent a few times sitting in a fold out chair in the shower for 30min to bring down temps and feel better. By Sunday i went the the ER. Diagnosis is: Viral pnuemonia with hypoxemia. Covid pressumed with upper respiratory infection with gastroenteritis acute viral syndrome Tested for Covid. I was treated with Zofran 4mg every 4 hours as needed for nausea/vomiting.
Albuterol inhale 2 puffs every 4 hours as needed for shortness of breath.
Dexamethasone 4mg tab one by mouth daily for 5 days.
Azithromycin 500mg one tablet by mouth daily for 5 days.
Pulmicort Flexhaler 180 mcg inhale 2 puffs (rinse mouth after inhalation) every 12 hours.
You will lose your sense of taste and smell. It wont take your appetite away though so dont stop eating. Nausea wasnt a big issue. Diarrhea was for both if us for 3days.
We are both now breaking out onto the recovery side now. No temp for 2 days now. Still coughing up only light colored phlegm the whole time.
If you can get your hands on hydroxychloriquine do it. We tried to get the wife on it 3mo ago but politics was getting in the way which is total BS. Many fatal infection would not happen if they would let the public use it for preventative care or to reduce Covid symptoms when you come in contact with it. Was easy to work with as taking aspirin. It worked for my wife and i felt it helped save me from going down that rabbit hole getting full blown pnuemonia. Sorry i wrote so much. Be safe out there.
He didn’t die because of covid. He died with it and something else.
The test the health system is using is BS! The virus has yet to be properly isolated to know what Covid 19 truly is, and how old was this good ol’boy?
He had a good run. God’s speed.
Only 91…
Its a shame he had to die alone. His family should have busted in. It is time we forcefully take our rights back.
AMEN!!
Absolutely
You are 100% correct.
Oh so more people can be sick I agree they need a special room for last minute time if all attending are properly protected. But how to know when that is? With the overwhelming numbers at least they are passing in a controlled environment and handled with respect not dumped into mass graves like in some other countries. This massive of an undertaking is unheard of in our time. It is sad but necessary
Underlying conditions. But they won’t tell you what they are. So of course he dies of covid 19 in 2 days. I’m guessing his age or the underlying conditions didn’t have anything to do with it. They always make it sound like the only cause is covid because they are trying to keep us in fear. The Bible says fear not for I am with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. Have a blessed day.
I pray every day Psalms 109:8
James…from the article: “According to Mack’s son, Billy Mack Jr., his father, had been living in a memory care facility that treated him like family. He had been living with dementia, but his family says that he was still very much himself”
Also, here in Milwaukee, there were some nuns who passed away at their Motherhouse…at least 2 were over 100 years old…local media could not get enough of these stories.
Now do you drivers believe in that? Now that it took your hero?
The type of mentality that people have about Covid being attached to people when they die so that Covid stats go up is what is driving this insane behavior.
This is a popular conspiracy theory going around that also includes demonizing people who wear masks and say “we are all in this together”.
The behavior stems from a selfish place where people are inconvenienced by the facts and annoyed with having to do something they don’t like because they don’t agree with the facts.
The fact is that Mr. Mack, whom I’ve met, had Covid-19 which is a deadly virus that constricts the veins and causes blood clots as well as constricting the airways and the lungs.
But someone in a leadership position in this country cast doubts on the validity of this virus’ existence which gave his followers the OK to deny the virus’ existence.
So now, the health care system is overrun and trying to decrease its patient count. But these are a lot of words and facts. Don’t expect anyone to read all of this. Murica!
Rest in Peace Mr. Mack. You are and will be missed.
Question: Do you know he would have been alive if he hadn’t caught the virus? I figure it’s God’s way of cleansing the Earth. As much as I hate to say it. Look the way Portland and Seattle are doing right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Even where God is concerned.
Name checks out.
Agreeing with you, well stated.
Rest in Paradise Ol’ Mack.
God Blessed us having you here.
God Bless Bill Mack,he got me through many nights,he was a great inspiration to many drivers.
Douglas Kirk, you hit the nail right on the head.
And Ms Eagle you talk to much and you’re brain washed. God gave us a mouth and a nose to breath thru and the evil in this world forces us to block it !!! Is self explanatory. WAKE UP !!!
What’s the matter with you people? This not a forum to discus vocabulary, schemes, or to sound off your views. This is to say goodbye to one of the most knowledgeable, kind hearted, totally professional friend the truckers ever had. I knew Bill and Cindy, and Cindy there are few who know just how much you loved him. 91 is a good age to attain, but not being able to say goodbye is horrible. From all us “old guys” out here who sat in his studio at 3am, or talked to him on XM, we love you Cindy, and let us share your grief. Goodbye Pal.
Warmest Regards
The Professor
Humbled. You’re right, this is not the time or place for the nashing of teeth, etc. Time for reflection, respect and recollection. Thank you Mack.
I not only listened to Bill but met him. He had his show at the opening of a new truck stop near Dallas. One night I had the pleasure of meeting him and for all you nay sayers He had found God and became a wonderful man PERIOD!! He was our friends over the road night after night. I listened to him from 1978 til his airways left the radio.I believe he is playing for all our trucking angels right now!! Love you Bill!!