Popular Portland morning radio host Lori Voornas is turning off her microphone after 32 years.

Voornas, who is currently a co-host on Portland station WHOM (94.9 FM), posted her departure message Monday morning on her Facebook page under the heading “It was a hell of a ride…”

Voornas wrote that she’s had “a lot going on in my personal life that I haven’t shared with you all,” but that she’s happy and healthy. She said her decision was based partly on the fact that she’ll be 60 in September, and that she’d like to stop getting up at 4 a.m. every day. Her last day on the air for the station will be June 27.

Voornas believes she’s lasted for 32 years on the air because she considers her listeners friends. She’s somewhat surprised she’s been so successful.

“I’ve never really thought I was very good at this job, but I do know how to be a friend,” said Voornas in a phone interview Monday morning. “A shocking amount of people have my phone number. But I’ve always felt if they need something, I want to help. This isn’t a job, it’s a life.”

She also wanted people to know that she is not being forced out of her job, but is going out on her own terms. She wrote in her post that whenever people ask her the favorite part of her job, she says “the listeners.”

“I have worked in radio pretty much since I landed in Maine in the 80s,” Voornas wrote. “I’ve poured my heart and soul into making your morning commute a good one. And in return, you have given me a giant hug for 32 years.”

Voornas said she plans to stay in the Portland area and has no immediate plans for another job, although she said she’s long felt like she has a “calling” to work in a bakery and has never met a bakery she doesn’t love. She also plans to still be part of the annual Cans for a Cure in Maine fundraiser this fall, manning a trailer at the Maine Mall to collect cans. She’s run the event to raise money to fight breast cancer for more than 20 years. She also lost her mother to breast cancer more than a decade ago.

“It’s very special to me and I’m not ready to give it up,” she said of the fundraising event.

In writing her departure announcement, Voornas also praised her long-time co-host, Jeff Parsons, who she has worked with for more than 20 years, first on WJBQ and now on WHOM. She said that Parsons has no ego and has let her “shine and be loud and bossy.”

“You never find that in this business. Never,” wrote Voornas of Parsons. “He’s smart, incredibly talented, a giant pain in the ass, and I love the guy like a brother.”

Voornas began on Portland radio in 1993, co-hosting the morning show on WMGX with Willy Ritch. By the early 2000s she was at WJBQ (97.9 FM) and later moved to WHOM. Both WJBQ and WHOM are owned by Town Square Media.

Herb Ivy, the long-time morning host of WBLM and director of content for Townsquare Media Portland, on Monday called Voornas “the heart of mornings in Maine.” He said the company is thrilled that Voornas will continue to be involved with the station, including running WHOM’s Cans for a Cure.

“Her warmth, quick wit, and genuine connection with listeners have made her a true Maine radio icon,” said Ivy. “While we’ll miss her daily presence, we’re thrilled she’s not going far. Her voice will continue to be part of WHOM’s story.”