GORHAM – Mark Tordoff, former station manager of Positive 89.3 FM radio and host of its popular “Your Friends in the Morning” show, died Sunday after a courageous fight with brain cancer. He was 51.

Mr. Tordoff joined the Christian radio station in Freeport in the late 1990s. As station manager, he led numerous ministry initiatives, including Christmas Wish, Can the Van, Pint for Life, Positive 89.3 nights and Family Day in the Park.

He led a push for Christian musicians to perform at music and sports venues across southern Maine. He was also instrumental in raising the funds to purchase the station’s current building on Route One in Freeport. He stepped down as manager around 2004.

“I don’t think the station would be here today without Mark’s contributions and service during that time,” said Mike Stoddard, an advisory board member for Positive 89.3 FM. “He made a pretty big difference in people’s lives.”

John Libby, former chairman of the station’s board, said Tordoff was “a true servant.”

“He dumped his heart and soul into making the station successful,” Libby said on Monday. “He gave all he could. Mark put in many, many hours to make sure things came together in preparation for upcoming events. He was an unstoppable force for the success of WMSJ.”

Though his work was an important part of his life, nothing surpassed his love for his wife, Pamela Tordoff, and their two children.

He was remembered by his wife on Monday as a “true gentleman,” who dedicated his life to family and serving the community.

Mr. Tordoff grew up in South Portland, a son of Marlene and Arthur Tordoff. His father taught at South Portland High School for 40 years. The younger Tordoff graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1984.

Two years later, he married Pamela, his wife for 27 years. She reminisced on Monday about the day they met. It was a wedding. She was the maid of honor and wedding singer and he was a guest of the groom.

“He told me, he fell in love at first note,” she recalled. “He was very polite and very confident. He had a wonderful sense of humor. We loved to laugh and loved dancing at weddings. We had a lot of fun together as a couple.”

They enjoyed camping and other family activities. Years ago, he coached his son’s and daughter’s soccer teams. They also were active at Hollis Center Baptist Church, where he started the men’s choir, played on its softball team and served as a deacon.

“His faith was everything to him,” his wife said.

When Mr. Tordoff left Positive 89.3 FM radio, he began working as a marketing manager for Ecora Software in Portsmouth, N.H. He worked for the company for four to five years.

In 2008, he was diagnosed with brain cancer after suffering a seizure while driving to work.

He endured four brain surgeries, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, and treatments with new cancer-fighting drugs.

His wife said he fought his cancer with grace, courage and faith.

“He fully believed that God had his life perfectly under control,” she said. “Mark was going to do his part, but ultimately accepted what God had planned for him. He knew what God was doing and that there was a reason for it. We trusted that God’s plan was the perfect plan for him. Mark wasn’t afraid. He knew where he was going.”

Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:

mcreamer@pressherald.com