Henderson history: Hugh Edward Sandefur announced retirement in 1973
One of Henderson’s most beloved journalists announced his retirement 50 years ago and died less than two months later.
Hugh Edward Sandefur was born May 12, 1912, and first began feeling the effects of rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 10. The progression of the disease required him to permanently take to his bed on Oct. 28, 1932. By that point, the only joints he could use were his hands and elbows, according to a special Gleaner edition published June 24, 1960.
“He never moves from his back and uses a hand mirror to compensate for his inability to turn his head.”But before 1932 he attended Barret Manual Training High School and even began college work. He also achieved what he later considered the apex of his musical career. During his high school years, he played saxophone in a band led by Marion Galloway.
But sometime probably between 1930-32 he and Jack O.W. Rash got jobs as musicians aboard the ocean liner President Cleveland during a tour of Asia. The ship took them to Seattle, Japan, China and then to the Philippines. He was particularly impressed with Repulse Bay in Hong Kong.
“Beautiful girls, great food, beautiful girls, plush surroundings and beautiful girls made Repulse Bay a wonderful, exciting experience,” Sandefur said.
His greatest frustration was that he was not able to express himself musically as much as he would have liked. When he found himself unable to perform, he began writing songs for others to sing. One of them, “Consider the Lilies,” was later performed by the choir at First United Methodist Church.
Another song, “Stars Hide Their Faces,” was published in 1946 by W.C. Handy, although Sandefur had received a copyright for it in 1939. Gleaner columnist Francele Armstrong acted as a go-between; I’m unsure whether the two men ever met.
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During the 1955 banquet dedicating Handy Pool Sandefur publicly thanked Handy for publishing his song. “He accepted my music when no one else would look at it.”
His interest in music provided an oblique path into journalism. Armstrong made an appointment with Hecht Lackey, owner of radio station WSON, and an agreement was forged. Lackey would provide the equipment and hook-up and Sandefur would do a half-hour radio program about records of interest. That later expanded to covering local news. Sandefur also began writing a column for The Gleaner about up-coming radio programs; “It’s in the Air” first appeared May 7, 1944.
But all that wasn’t really enough to be self-sufficient. He learned to type with Armstrong’s help – and there was no stopping him after that. For 29 years (1944-73) he was a reporter and on-air personality for WSON radio and for nearly 24 of those years (1949-73) he was simultaneously a reporter for The Gleaner. He routinely worked from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. six and seven days a week.
When I first began working at The Gleaner some of the old timers would talk about what a crackerjack reporter Sandefur had been. They said they’d often come back to the office with what they thought was a scoop only to learn Sandefur was way ahead of them.
“Few reporters ever had better sources and few could open doors to stories as well as he,” former Gleaner Editor Jenkins wrote in a 1985 story about Sandefur. “And he did it flat on his back from a bed to which he was confined for the last 41 of his 61 years.”
Throughout my years of reading old copies of The Gleaner I’ve been astounded by the number of significant events that occurred in Henderson County between 1949 and 1973 that were chronicled by Sandefur. He wrote articles about city government, county government, school boards, circuit court, police, fire, weather, politics – across practically the entire spectrum of local news.
He also was very active in the community and could always call on a funeral home ambulance to take him to his many social engagements. In 1963, while speaking to the Rotary Club, he talked about his philosophy of journalism
He said he enjoyed his job because it “gives me a license to poke my nose into other people’s business. But there’s no insurance against getting it bruised once in a while.” He didn’t shy away from hard-hitting stories, but he did them with compassion. That, to me, is the essence of community journalism.
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“It has always been distasteful to me to handle stories that hurt people. Even praise for writing such stories has a slightly bitter taste. All we can say in our defense is that we do not make the news; we just report it.”
He was one of Henderson’s most treasured residents, winning the Chamber of Commerce’s distinguished citizen of the year award in 1966 is ample proof.
Over the years he won numerous awards from the Kentucky Press Association. The Gleaner of March 25, 1973, announced another award he particularly was proud of. It was a distinguished service award from the Tri-State’s journalism society, Cardinal States Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi.
It recognized his leadership providing service to the community by volunteering with the local chapter of the Mental Health Association, the Human Rights Commission, the Arthritis Foundation, the Red Cross and his long activity as a board member of the Hugh Edward Sandefur Training Center. He was a founder of HESTC and a past president.
But that very same week, on March 30, he was hospitalized with a heart attack. He had previously suffered a stroke. He remained in critical condition until April 10.
While lying in a bed at Methodist Hospital his health caused him to begin seriously thinking of retiring. The decision was made public 50 years ago this week in The Gleaner of April 25, 1973.
“I decided then that it is time for me to think of saving a few years instead of a few dollars,” he said, although he added, “I will remain as active as my health permits.”
It did not permit. He died June 16, less than 10 weeks after he had retired and a month after he had turned 61.
It was the lead story the next day, accompanied by a personal column written by publisher Walt Dear. WSON twice broadcast a tribute written by Sol Bernstein and narrated by Henry Lackey. The Henderson Post Office flew its flag at half-mast June 19.
Tedd Brouette had a letter to the editor in the June 20 Gleaner that also paid tribute.
“How can one describe the personality, the wit, the intellect, the compassion, the talent, and the understanding that was distinctly Hugh Edward Sandefur the man? The truth and good this man sought cannot and must not be buried with him.”
100 YEARS AGO
Henderson’s first bus system began operating with Ben White Jr. at the wheel about the time the streetcars stopped running, according to The Gleaner of April 25, 1923.
The first bus was a Graham body built on a Dodge truck chassis and had rattan seats. It served the downtown area, Union Station and the East End.
The May 13 Gleaner noted a second bus had been added, allowing service as far south as the fairgrounds on South Green Street and Atkinson Park on the north end. Transfer tickets were available to switch lines.
The city of Henderson took over the operation July 16, 1957, after William Polk told Mayor Hecht Lackey he was planning to shut it down for lack of revenue.
75 YEARS AGO
Retired Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel filed suit asking for a court order to divide his mother’s estate, according to The Gleaner of April 23, 1948.
The initial executor had been Singleton H. Kimmel, but he died Oct. 23, 1947, at which time Manning M. Kimmel was named. That’s when the dispute began. Husband wanted the estate divided, but Manning refused to talk to him or to allow him into the family home at Fifth and Green streets to collect his personal effects.
Husband’s suit was successful and The Gleaner of May 18 noted multiple pieces of property divided into 21 bidding lots had been sold by the master commissioner to bring in $57,470.
J.W. McGaw was the big winner. He bid $30,100 to buy the Kimmel homestead house at Fifth and Green streets. A historic marker currently marks that site.
Manning Kimmel had the winning bid only four times. The most significant was 30 acres on the north side of Fifth Street bordering the west bank of Canoe Creek. The city of Henderson was to buy that property from him in 1960 to build a new city garage but the bulk of the 30 acres was sold by the city to various factories to promote economic development.
25 YEARS AGO
Magistrate Joe Pruden was practically ecstatic leading up to the ground-breaking ceremony for the county’s new boat ramp on the Green River at Spottsville, according to The Gleaner of April 29, 1998.
“I’ve been working on that for 15 years,” Pruden said. “The whole court’s been working on it.”
County government had put up about $9,500 to buy the property at the end of Old U.S. 60, but the boat ramp itself was mostly financed by the state and federal governments.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.
This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson history: Hugh Edward Sandefur announced retirement in 1973
