In the fast-moving word of radio, favorites can be on the air one day, and gone the next. But Iris Harrison, who worked at Portland’s KGON (92.3 FM) radio since March of 1977, is the exception. Harrison announced her plans to retire from her mid-day hosting spot on KGON back in September. And Dec. 18 marked her last shift in that on-air spot.

As Harrison wrote on her Facebook page, on Dec. 18, “I got a call last night from Bob Ancheta, and he said ‘Are you ready?’ Yes, I’m ready! My last show on KGON is today, and while I haven’t planned anything big or special, there is a reason for that. It’s a gentle goodbye.”

In a video posted on the KGON website in September, Harrison talked about her plans to retire in December. Harrison spoke about wanting to take a long-planned road trip with her husband, Marty Party, a fellow radio veteran, who’s now retired. She also mentioned wanting to have time to spend with her “three amazing granddaughters.”

But Harrison emphasized that, even though she won’t be doing her regular duties at the classic rock station, she has plans for other projects, including podcasts drawing on her long history of interviews with rock artists and bands.

Earlier this month, Harrison joined KGW’s Brenda Braxton for a video segment, in which the radio veteran recalled being 22 when she joined KGON. Harrison turned 65 on Dec. 6.

According to the KGON website, Harrison, whose hometown is Monterey, California, moved to Oregon in 1974, and first became interested in working in radio while attending the University of Oregon. She started out working for a Eugene station with the call letters, KFMY, and moved to Portland when she was hired to work at KVAN, in 1976. Harrison went to work for KGON in 1977, and built an amazingly long career there. In 2012, she was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.

Her bio also says this about Harrison’s favorite bands and artists: “Beatles, The Who, Springsteen, Zep, Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. You know, the basic food groups of Classic Rock.”

In her Dec. 18 Facebook post, Harrison also writes, “This was not a ‘forced’ exit for me. This was my plan. I saw a comment on a website that made me want to clear this up. It’s time for me to do other things. I have a lot of hobbies that I don’t have the energy for as long as I was working. While there are many other jobs that involve stress, it’s time for me to take care of myself, my husband, my family, and find out what I want to do now."

Finally, Harrison thanks people for “sweet messages,” especially from those whose lives she touched without realizing it.

“That’s the real gift,” Harrison writes. “All I wanted to be was the ‘friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive’ and I hope I played the right song at the right time, or said something that made you happy along the way. Through the times of chaos in the world in the last 42 years, I think we all need at least some minutes to feel really good each day. Sometimes a song will do just that.”

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.