Obituary: Leonard R. Hendry / Hosted swing music program on WDUQ
June 23, 1927 - March 31, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Saturday nights won't be the same for area swing music fans who tuned in Len Hendry's “Let's Dance" on WDUQ-FM. His weekly program was a habit for nostalgic listeners -- young and old -- who enjoyed traveling back in time to the heyday of big band dance music.
Mr. Hendry, who had cancer, died Friday morning. He was 78.
Mr. Hendry, of White Oak, grew up in North Side. He became a music fan at a young age. Inspired by one of his idols, Harry James, he started learning to play trumpet when he was 13. By age 15, he was a professional musician. Mr. Hendry spent some time touring the Midwest, but he didn't like the musician's life on the road.
After serving in the Army during World War II, he went to work as an insurance claims adjuster with Crum & Forster, Downtown.
But his love of music continued, and he continued to be a devoted listener and record collector. When his friend, the late Bob King, hosted a nostalgia program on WYEP-FM in the station's early days, Mr. Hendry worked as his studio engineer. Mr. King, Mr. Hendry and the program later moved to WDUQ. Mr. King left the station in 1976, and Mr. Hendry was offered the job as host. For 10 years, he also hosted an old-time radio program featuring dramas like “Lone Ranger" and “I Love a Mystery" on WDUQ. This summer would have marked his 30th anniversary at the station.
Every Saturday evening at 6 p.m., “Let's Dance" would open with the strains of Charlie Barnett's “Make Believe Ballroom." For the next three hours, Mr. Hendry would entertain listeners with selections from his massive 7,000-plus record collection.
“Let's Dance," which was named after the Benny Goodman song, brought back talents like Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy James, Louis Prima and other prominent bands to the radio, where they first became stars. The show appealed to both older listeners who remembered the music from their youth, and a younger, retro audience discovering swing music for the first time.
Mr. Hendry had an encyclopedic knowledge of the music of that era, which he was always ready to share.
“Len was truly a gentleman of the airwaves," said WDUQ general manager Scott Hanley. “He knew the dance band scene. The show had a great following. I don't know that it could be replaced."
The radio program was a labor of love for Mr. Hendry, who was an unpaid volunteer host at the station. “I love music. It's breathing to me. I feel like somebody when I do this. I don't need money," he told the Post-Gazette in an interview in 2000.
He was among the station's volunteer hosts who were honored for their commitment and work at WDUQ's 50th anniversary celebration in 1999.
He also worked as a DJ at area dances and attended them as a participant along with his wife, Josephine.
WDUQ will air a tribute program to Mr. Hendry later this month.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by son Gregg Hendry of Barboursville, W.Va.; stepsons, Jack Wills of Elizabeth Township, Anthony Wills of West Mifflin and Dave Wills of Palo Alto, Calif.; eight stepgrandchildren and 16 great-stepgrandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Striffler's of White Oak Cremation and Mortuary Services, 1100 Lincoln Way, White Oak. A Mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick Parish, 32 St., McKeesport.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
