Veteran Wisconsin Public Radio announcer Jim Packard died Monday at a New York hospital at the age of 70.

Except for when the show was in reruns, "Whad'Ya Know" host Michael Feldman saw announcer Jim Packard almost every Saturday since 1985, when the Madison-based, nationally syndicated public radio humor and quiz show made its debut.

The last time was at their hotel after the June 9 broadcast from New York.

"I said, 'Great show, Jim,' and he smiled and nodded," said Feldman, who returned to Madison that night along with the show's crew. Packard and his wife, Deb, were staying for a few days to soak up the city and catch some Broadway shows.

Packard, 70, died Monday at a New York City hospital after being hospitalized the day after the show. He was scheduled to be released last Thursday before taking a turn for the worse.

The cause of death has not been confirmed, but Packard reportedly suffered from cardiopulmonary disease.

Feldman said "his lung function had been decreasing visibly for the past six to eight months," but Packard was determined to make the trip to New York. "He wanted to do the New York show despite the obstacles he faced getting there."

Feldman said Packard used an oxygen tank - "his Darth Vader thing" - backstage but worked without it when on stage.

On that last show, Feldman said, Packard "hit all his cues as always" but was "noticeably slower in his delivery. A couple times, I stepped on his line because I thought he was done."

The popular show generally broadcasts from Madison but also does remote broadcasts from other cities. Feldman said that, before his illness worsened, Packard had been "a very fit person" and "was the only guy on a country club's women's golf team."

Wisconsin Public Radio talk show host Larry Meiller said Packard couldn't walk to the neighborhood market "anymore without resting. This from a guy who ran marathons."

Feldman and Packard were hitched professionally in 1985 in a shotgun marriage performed by then-WPR director Jack Mitchell, who decided fledging broadcaster Feldman - who called himself "an advanced amateur" - needed adult supervision.

"I think it was Michael's idea, but I'll take the credit," said Mitchell, journalism professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "Michael felt, and I agreed, that Jim was George Fenneman to Michael's Groucho Marx," said Mitchell.

Fenneman was Groucho's announcer on the TV quiz show "You Bet Your Life."

The Public Radio International show is heard on more than 250 public radio stations nationwide.

Packard "was absolutely straight but had a wry sense of humor that was very low-key," said Mitchell.

A Lodi native, Packard joined WPR as a news reader in 1981 after working in commercial radio for 16 years.

According to a 2008 interview in WPR's RadioWaves, Packard said his broadcasting career began after winning a teenage DJ contest on WIBU in Poynette at age 15.

"Jim was on virtually every station in south central and other places Wisconsin," said Feldman.

Packard told RadioWaves he was the "first person in Madison to play Bruce Springsteen, resulting in a champagne party" with the band when they played Madison for the first time.

Before his retirement in December 2010, Packard was producer and fill-in host for "The Larry Meiller Show" for 15 years.

"If I was sick or gone, he could go on the air and host as well as I could," Meiller said.

Packard's strengths as a producer were "getting the right guests for a topic and knowing the right questions to ask," Meiller said. The pair became good friends and "drank a fair amount of beer together, although he liked wine better," Meiller said.

Packard also wrote cowboy poetry, and his works have been published on CowboyPoetry.com.

In his biography on the site, Packard wrote: "My daddy was born in Coffee Creek, Montana, so I've always been partial to the West. My grandpa was a ranch foreman and grandma was the cook."

Packard "also fancied himself a singer" and "had a couple singing gigs around town just so that he could say he did it," said Meiller.

But the contrast in personalities between the laconic Packard and the high-energy Feldman was a match made in radio.

"I tell people my only successful long-term relationship was with Jim Packard," Feldman said. "He was my rock. I didn't realize how codependent I was. I totally miss him already."

Packard was unflappable, despite Feldman's best efforts to disrupt his concentration with non sequiturs whenever Packard was reading the show's Town of the Week segment. Once, Feldman "tried burning his copy (as he read it) because I heard it happened in the old days of radio, but he kept going."

He was Feldman's "cohort as well. If something came up, I would turn to my left and flip it to Jim to get his take on it."

Feldman said Packard was "an impeccable copy reader" with "good tones and great pipes."

Feldman will address Packard's death on Saturday's program.

"I'll speak from my heart for a while and then do the show," he said. "Jim would tell you that the show is the thing."

Email: ddudek@journalsentinel.com