MONTROSE, Colo. -- Family and friends gathered to say goodbye to DJ Rick Steele Saturday. Steele worked for 94 KIX in Montrose.

He was reported missing earlier this month. Crews searched for him for more than two weeks before finally finding his body in a canal.

It's not just the family but the whole community that's feeling a loss.

"Rick took a father figure role for me for a long time," says Rick's brother Robert. "With life, with his experiences, if I had questions he'd always be right there."

Robert and dozens of others came together to remember a best friend, a comedian, and a friendly voice on the radio.

"The radio station has cards and emails plastered through the entire building," Robert says. "I think that shows what the community felt."

Family members say it seemed Rick was always in a good mood.

"If he was upset, I didn't see that in him," says his cousin Marissa Steele. "He was always loving and smiling."

"Rick wore his emotions on his sleeve," says his brother. "He would always be there for anybody, he could make anyone feel welcome in a room."

Friends say he could always make them smile; at his memorial service guests laughed at funny clips from the morning show he worked on.

The family says even with Rick gone, his memory will always make them smile.

"I know that he's in a better place and we're all going to miss him," Marissa says. "He will always be remembered."

The family also wanted to thank the Montrose community for its tireless search efforts, and now, its support.