“We were all in shock, we didn’t want to believe it was him, we are all deeply saddened, devastated,” confides Isèle Vincent, employee at Radio Balises. The tragic disappearance of Jean-François Baudic, during a car accident on the night of Sunday 17 to Monday 18 November 2024, quickly spread in the country of Lorient. “Jean-François was the very definition of kindness,” says Isèle. Someone generous, very human. He was very supportive, always ready to help. Nothing was complicated with him.” “He was a golden guy,” breathes Géraldine Berry, president of Radio Balises, “so nice and always smiling. We are all very affected.”
One of the pioneers of the association
The teacher at Colbert high school, in Lorient, was one of the pillars of the association, since the creation of the radio in 2018. A fan of cinema and music, he shared his passions through several shows: “Take your time”, “Videodrome”, “Le mix de Bodérik”. “Bodérik was his nickname within the association, he loved electro music but not only,” says Isèle, “pop, but also music from the 1980s, French songs. He was also our DJ, he hosted our “Bamboche” evenings, behind his turntable.” And the fifty-year-old loved art in its entirety. “He was interested in everything. He was someone who had great taste. He struck me as an aesthete.” Jean-François Baudic was also, and above all, loyal to the association. “We are 80 volunteers, and the particularity is that we don't necessarily all meet often,” adds Isèle, “but he was on all fronts, very active, always the first to offer to give a shot by hand and many of us knew him.”
An impossible goodbye
The day after his disappearance, Tuesday November 19, around twenty members of Radio Balises met in the evening in a bar in Lorient. “We needed to see each other to be sad together,” adds Isèle, “to think of him. We told each other anecdotes, beautiful things. And we cried.” Reflect, remember, talk about a man who accompanied them and with whom they shared so many moments. “Finding ourselves again did us good, but we are still in a form of astonishment. We will realize in the moments when he is not there. We will try to pay tribute to him on the air in the weeks to come, when we need it, when the time is right. It’s impossible to say goodbye to him but we have his voice, which we keep close to us,” concludes Isèle.
