Tom Severino, vice president/general manager of Emmis’ Indianapolis radio stations, died Sunday after a five-month battle with lung cancer.

Severino, 57, had responsibility for radio stations WIBC-FM (93.1), WLHK-FM (97.1), WFNI-AM (1070), WYXB-FM (105.7) and Network Indiana.

Emmis Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan notified Emmis employees of Severino’s death Monday, praising him in an e-mail: “You lived a life with purpose.”

“Tom fought a courageous battle with cancer, and his passing is hard for all of us to comprehend. His family was with him at the end, and his last hours were free of the pain that he courageously endured for these last months,” Smulyan said in the e-mail.

Severino, a graduate of Murray (Ky.) State University, spent more than 30 years in radio.

He joined Emmis 15 years ago, and since 1998 had been named one of the top 50 general managers in America by Radio Ink Magazine, including No. 1 in 2003 and 2004 in the medium market category. In 2003, WIBC won the Marconi Award for Medium Market Station of the Year.

WIBC’s Steve Simpson said Severino loved radio and made sure on-air talent and producers had the tools to do their jobs.

“Radio tends to be very familial,” Simpson said, “. . . and, for the Indianapolis market, he (Severino) was like a patriarch.”

Survivors include his wife of 29 years, Linda, and three children, Tom, Carly and Tony, according to Smulyan.

A calling will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Emmis headquarters, 1 Emmis Plaza, 40 Monument Circle, Suite 700. Details were pending for services Friday.