Yes, I personally knew several controllers at the nearby Class D where I used to live. When traveling, it always gave me a nice homey feeling to hear their voices on the radio, even if still 60 nm away.
One Sunday, five planes were on a breakfast run with flight following up and told to keep our squawks for the return trip. Mid-breakfast, one of them called the on-field restaurant in the next county to advise us of weather moving in. We finished up quickly and headed home in line pronto, and were driving to the house when it hit. It's nice to have people looking out for us!
P.S.--I took some of them flying, and even flew out them for lunch a few times.