Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Remembering Ray O'Canto, Fresno Media Personality and Bulldog Booster
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
September 16, 2019

Share

Ray O’Canto, former Fresno State baseball radio commentator and local media personality, died this past Saturday at the age of 60, according to numerous  media reports.
He battled cancer for the last few months, spending his final weeks in hospice care.


Listen to this article:
 


O’Canto worked in and around Fresno media, most recently operating his NTD Media production company. He also hosted a food and travel TV show, “Dine Out Along the Road.”
A former collegiate baseball player at College of the Sequoias and Fresno State, O’Canto teamed with Paul Loeffler for many years calling Diamond Dog games on the radio, including the 2008 NCAA championship season.
“Get dirty!” O’Canto exuberantly yelled after the final out in Omaha, as partner Loeffler described the action.

Loeffler Lovingly Describes His Partner

“Joy. That’s the word. I think joy was our friend Ray O’Canto’s most significant gift to the world. His talents were plentiful and diverse,” Loeffler wrote in tribute on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Joy. That’s the word. I think joy was our friend Ray O’Canto’s most significant gift to the world. His talents were plentiful and diverse. He was as comfortable discussing a deep flavor profile on TV as he was breaking down a deep home run on radio. Coaching his daughter in basketball was as fulfilling as flying halfway around the world to cover the Olympics. No matter the setting, no matter the situation, the common denominator when Ray was around was always joy. Anyone who ever met RayO will remember his infectious enthusiasm, his affirming and encouraging persona, and his knack for making others feel valuable and important. Even in hospice care, that signature trait remained. I’ll always remember Omaha, and the unbridled exuberance unleashed when his Bulldogs won it all. But today, my mind has been swimming in so many other moments, so many spots on the map where Ray delivered joy to people and places he’d never encountered before. As we mourn this great loss and pray God’s peace and comfort over his beautiful family, may we also resolve to find our own ways to follow his unique example, and inject a little joy wherever our paths take us.

A post shared by Paul Loeffler (@loeffler.paul) on

‘I Love This Community’

A few weeks ago, GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi visited with O’Canto, who recorded one of his final messages to his friends and family.
“I just want to tell you how overwhelmed I am by the amount of support I’ve received from my friends, who have just rallied around me,” he said.
He added, “Who knows what our last breath will be? Only God knows that.”
GoFundMe account has been established for O’Canto and his family.
“I love this community, I love what it means to me,” O’Canto said. “I’ll always try to uplift it in any way I can.”

Watch Ray’s Message

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

DON'T MISS

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

DON'T MISS

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

DON'T MISS

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

DON'T MISS

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

DON'T MISS

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

UP NEXT

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

UP NEXT

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

UP NEXT

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

UP NEXT

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest 11 for DUI During Weekend Enforcement

UP NEXT

One Man Dead After Kings River Rescue Attempt in Fresno County

UP NEXT

Fresno County Will Sell Naming Rights for Clovis and Reedley Libraries

UP NEXT

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

UP NEXT

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

6 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

6 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

6 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

6 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

6 hours ago

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

7 hours ago

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

7 hours ago

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

7 hours ago

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

8 hours ago

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

8 hours ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Paul Atkins, who previously served as a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member from 2002 to 2008 and wa...

4 hours ago

CEO of Patomak Global Partners Paul Atkins takes part in a strategic and policy CEO discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Eisenhower Execution Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2017. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo)
4 hours ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

The corporate logo of the UnitedHealth Group appears on the side of one of their office buildings in Santa Ana, California, U.S., April 13, 2020. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
4 hours ago

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

6 hours ago

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

Pilar Rose, 51, formerly of Fresno, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and obstructing an IRS audit, agreeing to forfeit her mansion and BMW after falsifying financial records to evade taxes and secure fraudulent loans. (Zillow)
6 hours ago

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

Nathaniel Ray Diaz, 21, of Greenfield, is a California state prisoner who has been indicted on federal charges on Monday, April 21, 2025, for allegedly directing a minor to send sexually explicit images while serving time for previous offenses against the same child. (Shutterstock)
6 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a news conference about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest autism survey in Washington, April 16, 2025. In his first attempt to significantly change the nation’s food supply, Kennedy will direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes that are found in hundreds of thousands of grocery-store staples, the department said on Monday, April 21. (Pete Kiehart/The New York Times)
6 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

6 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

President Donald Trump attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
6 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend