We regret to share that legendary radio personality, historian, and voiceover talent Richard Ward Fatherley has passed. Fatherley, who had suffered a heart attack February 14th, passed away Monday afternoon at St. Margaret's Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. Services are pending, and when information becomes available, we will post it here.

Fatherley's distinguished radio career began in 1959 at WSTC-AM, a then 250-watt daytimer serving Stamford, CT. He would remain in the northeast for the next five years, mostly in Connecticut, though he did spend a short time at WABC in New York City during 1961. It was in 1964, when Fatherley would begin his association with Storz Broadcasting, as he joined the company's KXOK in St. Louis. (Click HERE for a page featuring an audio introduction by Fatherley.) The union was formed a year after the death of Top 40 pioneer Todd Storz, whose life and career Fatherley would begin researching early in his tenure.

In St. Louis, Fatherley's future as radio historian would first be foreshadowed. In 1965, he began a promotional brochure for Storz, and though the project wasn't completed at the time, it would serve as the starting point for his audio history "Radio's Revolution & The World's Happiest Broadcasters" when he rediscovered it in the mid-90s. Also at KXOK, Fatherley would take the time to record some 8mm footage of the station's location and events, a portion of which has been digitized by the folks at stlmedia.net. In the silent clip below, you can see the station's Radio Park signage (which inspired the same on-air brand at Kansas City's KCKN), and even a clip of Fatherley himself in his KXOK baseball uniform.

Since the fall of 1967, Fatherley's legendary voice has been a Kansas City institution. He began here with a transfer from KXOK to Storz's Kansas City outlet, WHB-AM. Following two years as WHB's Program Director, he went on to have a hand in numerous other local stations, including WDAF-AM, KLTH, KEXS, KFEZ, and even KYYS, where he did sales in the earliest days of KY-102. With his authoritative voice, Fatherley was an in-demand voice-over talent for many years through his firm AdVoice LLC. Among his long list of clients were numerous local and national businesses, radio stations who utilized him as their imaging voice, and many charities, for whom he was always willing to provide his services at no charge.

In addition to his voicework, Fatherley contributed immesurable time and energy in recent years to documenting and preserving the history of Kansas City radio and the Top 40 format. In April 1993, Fatherley took part in the WHB 71st Anniversary celebration (see audio below), where fellow WHB alum Jim Moore called him, "the greatest voice this market has ever had." By the end of the decade, he had completed his audio production "Radio's Revolution & the World's Happiest Broadcasters" (in the process, shedding light the previously un-resolved birthplace of the Top 40 format). He also developed a website to pay tribute to WHB.

In recent years, Fatherley had produced audio productions that featured other legendary Kansas City talent, like Max Floyd, Walt Bodine, and Ted Cramer. He played a leading role in the Great Plains Radio History Symposium, and at the time of his death, was writing a book to chronical the history of WHB from its beginnings to the present day. In 2005/2006, he was honored with induction into the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame.

Along with his friends and family, Richard leaves behind a loving and devoted radio family, both in Kansas City and St. Louis, and scattered throughout the country. Some of them have already contacted us to share their thoughts and memories...

Updated 03/10/10 -- We've updated the post with additional feedback, so please click the "Read More" button for thoughts and tributes to our late friend.  You can also leave your own thoughts and memories in the comments below (sign-up and log-in no longer required).

Updated 03/12/10 --  Funeral information and additional feedback have been added to this post.

Randy Raley - PlanetRadio.us & KC Radio alum

     "I came to KY as a punk, long haired kid. One of the first people I met was Dick. He took me under his wing and gave me pointers in the production room, how to be a professional and many pieces of wonderful advice. I saw him six weeks ago at Max's roast "Rrrrrrrrrandy Rrrrrrrrraley, how goes the journey?" He about squeezed the life out of my hand and gave me a big hug. He looked and sounded great. Even though our studios were down the hall from each other, I swear I could hear him in the KY studio.He had that voice. Thanks, Dick, I appreciate you showing me the ropes. He is radio royalty for me and always will be."

Don't Miss TVBarn's Tribute to RWF

     I thought for sure I'd included this link in the original post, but can't find it...  If you haven't already had a chance, please take a minute and check out Aaron Barnhart's excellent tribute to Richard over at TVBarn.com.  You can find it by clicking HERE.

Fatherley's "The Neon Beat" Shows to Re-Air

     David Brewer of KCXL 1140 and KCTO 1160 checked in today to let us know that the stations have over forty episodes of "The Neon Beat" that Richard voiced, which will re-air later in the year.  "The Neon Beat" is the station's long-running Adult Standards program created by John Christopher.  After the episodes are remastered, they'll begin airing on KCTO 1160AM.  We'll be sure to let you know when you can hear them.

Fatherley Memorial Scholarship Established (4/10)