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Veteran broadcaster Francios St. Juste died this morning at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
Mr St. Juste had been battling an illness recently.
Francois St. Juste spent more than four decades with the RJRGLEANER Group, principally on air at FAME and Radio Jamaica 94FM, as well as manager for the group's radio brands for a period.
In response to his passing, the company said: "RJRGLEANER family expresses our deep regret and along with the Radio Jamaica family, and the FAME family we wish his family comfort in this trying time."
CEO of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group Gary Allen said he felt a "deep sense of shock" at the passing of Mr St. Juste.
Although the broadcaster had been ailing "in the last couple of weeks", Mr Allen said the group had been "hoping for the best".
Broadcaster Paula-Ann Porter Jones, with whom Mr St. Juste hosted the Radio Jamaica morning programme Sunny Side Up until his passing, recounted that it was St. Juste who auditioned her to work on FAME years ago.
"There I was thinking that I was oh so great, you know, I can do this. And afterwards, his very kind way of pointing out there were several words that I got wrong and ways that I could have done better. And that was just so him, always teaching but in a way that helps us to understand and not feel bad about being the best yet, because he always put it so that there was room for growth and improvement," she recalled.
She said his passing has "rocked the nation, not just in broadcasting or entertainment where he worked, but across different spheres of Jamaican life because of what he did for us and because of how he connected with us through his show".
In a 2020 interview, Mr St. Juste explained how he got into media, despite studying physics at the University of the West Indies.
His love of music, he said, had led him to start a sound system on campus with some friends.
At the time, there was a Saturday night programme called Discomania, on which young DJs were invited, so he and his friends applied to appear on the show and that became his first exposure to radio.
Mr St. Juste said his first on-air experience happened by chance during a summer programme on FAME FM, which was a brand new radio station at the time.
"I went down and went there every day and just hung around and there was a little bit of training and learning music and hanging out in the library and things like that. One day somebody got sick and I was there and they said you have to go on the air," he recounted in the September 11, 2020 interview with Dionne Jackson Miller on Beyond the Headlines.
His colleague, Derrick Wilks, who also worked at FAME in the early days, recalled the creative side of Francois, who launched several signature products of the staton including the FAME Road Party, Boat Party, Island Party, and the FAME Property Party.
Having taken over leadership of the station from the venerable Don Topping, Mr St. Juste was able to "fit into that very huge pair of shoes" and sucessfully rebrand and redefine FAME, Wilks noted.
More tributes
Tributes have been pouring in from thousands of radio listeners locally and overseas, as well as from current and former political leaders.
Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson described Mr St. Juste as the consummate professional.
He said Francois commanded a wide audience and touched the lives of many through his radio programmes "by his compelling manner of speaking, by his eloquent delivery and his wit and splendid sense of humour".
In a seeming nod to the broadcaster's science background, Mr. Patterson noted that Mr St. Juste "blossomed into a person who chose excellence in whatever field he engaged".
In a posting on his twitter account on Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said many Jamaicans are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Mr St. Juste.
He said Francois brightened every space he occupied and was very easy to love.
Opposition Leader Mark Golding also paid tribute, saying he always enjoyed listening to Francois on Fame FM, with the humour and joy he brought to the airwaves.
Mr Golding said Francios made an indelible mark on Jamaica's media.
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