July 09--Moses "Lucky" Cordell, known as the "Baron of Bounce" on WVON radio, has died less than two weeks after he and his daughter were rescued from a fire in their South Shore home.
Cordell, 86, died Tuesday night at the University of Chicago medical center, where he had been in the intensive care unit since June 28. That evening, firefighters pulled him and his 60-year-old daughter out of their home in the 7300 block of South Euclid Avenue, officials said.
He was pronounced dead at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Grand Crossing District officers were the first to respond to the fire and were told by a woman outside that Cordell and his daughter Pat were still inside. The 63-year-old woman tried to go back inside the house, but the officers brought her out and away from the scene.
Officers also tried to rescue the Cordells but could not make it into the room where they were trapped because of the heat, authorities said. When firefighters arrived, the officers directed them to the room, police said.
The fire began in Pat Cordell's bedroom, according to her sister, Pamela Brown. She said Lucky Cordell headed upstairs after the fire started and the two became trapped, she said. Firefighters made a hole in the roof before rescuing the two from the bedroom.
They were taken to the U. of C. medical center in serious-to-critical condition, fire officials said Sunday.
Pamela Brown said her father and sister both underwent several surgeries. "The only thing I can do is pray," Brown said a day after the fire. "That's my only sister. My dad had two children, my sister and me."
Cordell had a long career in Chicago radio. After starting as a DJ at WGES in Chicago in 1952, Cordell moved to WGRY in Gary before working at WVON in Chicago.
He became the station's program and music director in 1965 and went on to become WVON's general manager in 1970.
