Richard Hake, a beloved and trusted news host and reporter for WNYC since 1992, passed away on Friday. He was 51 years old.

WNYC confirmed the news in a statement sent to newsroom staff. Hake's family told the station that he died of natural causes. Update: In a statement sent out on Wednesday afternon, the City’s Medical Examiner ruled that Hake's manner of death was an accident.

"Richard worked at WNYC for nearly 30 years as a host, reporter, and producer. He was an extraordinary broadcaster and journalist who had a passion for excellence and who took great pride in serving our audience," New York Public Radio President and CEO Goli Sheikholeslami said in the statement.

Hake was a host of WNYC's Morning Edition, and his work was broadcast on nationally syndicated shows like Weekend Edition and All Things Considered.

WNYC's listeners were intimately familiar with Hake's journalism—he spoke to New Yorkers through September 11, 2001, the 2003 blackout, and Superstorm Sandy.

"He was the guy we could throw into the studio with a moment's notice to try and divine the facts of a moving situation and impart that information to our listeners. That is a remarkable, remarkable skill," said Nancy Solomon, a WNYC editor who worked with Hake on Morning Edition.

Solomon described her colleague as a "rock solid public radio journalist" who understood how to engage his audience.

"That sound that makes you feel that you are there and imagining exactly what the scene sounds like and what the characters look like—he was a master of that."

ICYMI: Listen to @RScottHake riding the Cyclone some 20 years ago in the name of radio. https://t.co/ORodxuw3ix pic.twitter.com/IUnbb5v7gq — WNYC 🎙 (@WNYC) June 27, 2017

A native New Yorker, Hake graduated from Fordham University, and got his start at WNYC when he was still a student.

Prior to his career at WNYC, he worked at WFUV FM as a morning drive reporter and newscaster. His stories earned him awards from The Associated Press Broadcasters Association, The Society of Professional Journalists, and The New York Press Club, among others.

Hake was also a longtime shop steward for the union representing the workers at the station, SAG-AFTRA.

"He had a great sense of humor, he could appreciate the more absurd things in life," said WNYC senior reporter Beth Fertig, who started at the station in 1993, shortly after Hake. "When he would describe his job, he'd say, 'I talk to myself in a room with padded walls and no windows.'"

It's our last morning with the @NPR @MorningEdition theme song. Hear it playing on air for one last time with @RScottHake... and watch until the end. pic.twitter.com/eHosmxhcuM — WNYC 🎙 (@WNYC) May 3, 2019

Fertig recalled co-anchoring the news with Hake during the 2003 blackout. The station's generator had failed, and they had to talk into telephone receivers by flashlight.

"He was so smooth and timely and he had the right sense of urgency but no panic in his voice," Fertig said. "He set a really high bar for professionalism and for being able to—on live radio—go with anything that's dealt to you, keep it together, and think about the listeners first and foremost."

Fertig added, "It was one of my most memorable experiences in broadcasting. It was a joy working with him."

Listen to reporter Jim O'Grady's moving obituary for Richard Hake on WNYC:

The job description Hake gave himself was modest: "I wake people up and tell them stories on the alarm clock."

Hake's mother, Joy Colombo, recalled in a phone interview that her son was actually a shy child. But he opened up around her friends with the help of a toy.

"I would say he was about 7 or 8, my friends used to come over and he had this microphone we must have bought for him for Christmas," Colombo said. "And he used to go and ask and he used to interview them and we used to laugh, we used to kid around that he’s going to be a newscaster."

You can share your memories of Hake on WNYC's Facebook page.

This story has been updated with additional reporting from Beth Fertig.