To many Southeast Texans, Tommy “Jammer” Muzzillo was a familiar voice they heard every day in the car on KQXY 94.1. His larger-than-life personality lit up not only the airwaves but any room he was in, according to those who knew him best.
On Jan. 4, the beloved disc jockey, 50, died after a two-month battle with COVID-19.
Muzzillo’s Facebook page flooded with posts from close friends, acquaintances and strangers about the impact he had on their lives.
“He made everyone he talked to feel special — he was genuine about it,” said Lori Roccaforte, Muzzillo’s friend for 23 years. He remembered little things about people and he would ask them and genuinely cared.”
Muzzillo’s battle with the virus began in November. He was admitted into the Baptist Hospital emergency room Nov. 18 after having trouble breathing. The next six weeks was a roller coaster of improving and declining health. Despite no longer being infected with the virus in late December, Muzzillo suffered lingering effects that proved fatal.
On Jan. 3, Muzzillo suffered a stroke that caused bleeding at the base of his brain. He was transferred to Memorial Hermann hospital in downtown Houston. He had surgery that afternoon for the bleeding, but his decline continued and he died the following day.
“I never thought this would happen,” Roccaforte said. “The (doctors) did what they could. It was irreversible.”
Rocaforte first met Muzzillo early in his professional radio career and the two became inseparable. The two were there for the birth of each other’s children, spent holidays together and were often at each other’s homes.
“The thing is he would just bust into my house whenever,” Roccaforte said. “He came over to cook. He loved my gumbo. He would joke about being old in a nursing home together.”
Muzzillo’s outgoing personality and talent on air also helped develop long-lasting friendships with his contemporaries in the local media landscape. KBMT news anchor Vanessa Broussard said she felt like she knew Muzzillo before the two officially met.
“I can say I knew Jammer before he knew me,” Broussard said. “Just like the rest of Southeast Texas, I listened to him on the radio every day. ... I felt like I knew him because he was always in the car with me. That transitioned into real friendship when I got into the news business. The same person I knew on the radio was exactly who he was in person.”
Muzzillo’s personality was undeniable, but he also made an effort to keep in touch with all of his friends — even those who moved away from Southeast Texas. Doug Warner of KSLA 12 news, a CBS affiliate in Shreveport, worked with Muzzillo in the early 1990s when 94.1 switched to a top 40 format. The two worked together as on-air hosts before Warner moved into journalism in Oklahoma and now Louisiana.
It had been some time since the two saw each other in person, but Warner said they had remained connected through Facebook.
“We would stay in touch over the years and when I was working in Oklahoma City, he took the time to check in on me,” Warner said. “He always wanted to make you feel like you were making it. He wanted people to know how important or how awesome they were. That’s just the guy he was.”
Muzzillo, who graduated from Lumberton High School in 1987, began working for local Cumulus Media station KQXY 94.1 in 2012. After a stint in Dallas as a Columbia Records regional promotion manager, he returned to Q94 in 2012 as an assistant program director and afternoon personality under the then operations manager and program director Brandin Shaw.
He was appointed as Q94’s program director in Beaumont in October 2018 after helping launch the station in 1993.
The longtime radio DJ is survived by three daughters and one son.
Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Friday at Broussard’s Mortuary in Nederland. The funeral is scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday at Encounter Church in Groves.
jorge.ramos@beaumontenterprise.com
