Joseph E. Gagnon

Joseph E. Gagnon, age 84, of White Lake, Michigan, passed away on August 13, 2026. Joe was born and raised in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy. Joe came to the U.S. in the early 60’s playing hockey. He was a member of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni hockey team where he often skated for charitable events. Joe enjoyed fishing and often traveled back to Canada to spend time on his favorite lakes and streams.

Joe was widely known to many generations of listeners as “The Appliance Doctor.” He built a distinctive broadcasting career around consumer advocacy, home-appliance expertise and his ability to make practical advice entertaining. His radio program was on the air for more than 25 years and was heard beyond Detroit on stations around the country. By 1995, Joe was broadcasting his appliance program on 760 WJR, where he became a familiar weekend voice to listeners throughout Michigan and the station’s far-reaching nighttime coverage area.

Joe’s broadcasting grew naturally from an extensive background in the appliance industry and consumer affairs. His radio work focused not simply on repairing refrigerators, washers and other household equipment, but on helping consumers make informed purchases, avoid unnecessary repairs and recognize questionable business practices. His consumer advocacy also reached beyond broadcasting: he worked as a fraud investigator for Detroit Consumer Affairs and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, wrote newspaper columns, authored two books, and helped bring attention to consumer issues that received national television coverage. In 2002, Michigan enacted the Joe Gagnon Appliance Repair Act, named in recognition of his consumer-protection efforts. In his later years, Gagnon remained part of the WJR lineup as host of The Home & Appliance Show, taking listeners’ calls and dispensing the practical, sometimes humorous advice that had become his trademark. He was joined on the program by his longtime producer and second microphone, Donald “The Hammer” Schuster. The program continued a broadcasting relationship with WJR that stretched back roughly three decades and made Joe Gagnon one of the station’s enduring specialty-program personalities and a uniquely recognizable voice in Detroit.

Joe was also the celebrity spokesperson for DTE Energy, an energy provider in the State of Michigan. He served as a board member of Spectrum Human Services and S.O.C.A.P. (Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals), and is past president of Kiwanis, National Association of Service Managers and the Garden City Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

Joe leaves behind his loving wife Valorie; his children Andrew (Kristin) Gagnon, Mark Gagnon, Shawn Gagnon, Megan (Phil) Hamlin and Hollie (Virgil) Sedlak; 8 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

The Funeral Service will be at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at the Highland Chapel of the Elton Black and Son Funeral home, 3295 East Highland Rd., Highland, MI 48386. The family will receive visitors on Tuesday from 1:30 pm until the time of service.

Memorial donations may be made to Spectrum Human Services, INC, 28303 Joy Rd., Westland, MI 48185 Attn: Joe Gagnon Scholarship Fund.