Familiar Westmoreland Air Show announcer dies at 71
Westmoreland Airshow guests and staff will miss a familiar voice this year.
Howard “Howdy” Jackson McCann, Jr., 71, died March 9, 2023 at his home in Fallston, Md. As an internationally recognized airshow announcer, he played host to more 500 airshows through nearly 40 years.
McCann worked with David Schultz Airshows LLC, a business that specializes in airshow services, for nearly 30 years before his death. Owner David Shultz said that McCann was his first hire.
McCann made regular appearances at the Westmoreland Airshow, working as the event’s announcer since 2011.
“David Schultz Airshows has other announcers but we always thought of Howdy as our announcer,” said Gabe Monzo, Westmoreland Airport Authority director. “He will be sorely missed by all.”
Airshow hosts and staff members plan to honor McCann during the show. Monzo said that they want to thank McCann for all of the years he served.
“He had such a demeanor about him,” Monzo said. “He was always cracking jokes. He teased the pilots and the pilots just loved him. He brought a lot of life to the overall program.”
Shultz was inclined to agree, saying McCann was a fantastic announcer. He even described the style of the announcers at his company as “Howdy-central.”
“Howdy didn’t yell into the microphone, he didn’t have a tagline,” Schultz said. “Howdy had sequences that he matched with sponsors and the performers. He was extremely knowledgeable. It was the knowledge, the attitude. Howdy had respect for the company but he understood that the presentation of the show was most important.”
Schultz said that McCann was very patriotic. McCann would visit the 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania every time he made the drive from Maryland to the Westmoreland Airshow. Schultz reminisced about the time that they had both been knighted as honorary golden troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
“He was known as very folksy, down to earth, entertaining, educating, always prepared,” Schultz said. “It was a major loss for us.”
McCann’s family will be a visitation at 10 a.m. on March 21 at Fallston United Methodist Church in Maryland.
Haley Daugherty is a TribLive reporter covering local politics, feature stories and Allegheny County news. A native of Pittsburgh, she lived in Alabama for six years. She joined the Trib in 2022 after graduating from Chatham University. She can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com.
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