JW--Radio and TV Figure Dies at 82!

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Indiana native who became Seattle radio, TV figure dies at 82

03/18/2005

Associated Press

Justus "Buddy" Webber, a leading Seattle radio personality and television show host in the 1960s and '70s, has died at 82.

Webber, known for goofy stunts and an uncanny ability to avoid verbal pitfalls at the last second, died March 11 of pulmonary fibrosis, relatives and longtime associates said.

A native of Bluffton, Ind., Webber spent four years in the Marine Corps, married Betty Heck in the late 1940s and started a big band which he led on trumpet with his wife singing by his side.

He began his radio career in Indianapolis, later worked in Omaha, Neb., and at KGO in San Francisco for four years before becoming the morning drive-time announcer on KVI in Seattle in 1959.

"He had a rare talent," former KVI program director Jack Macdonald said. "Buddy would start a line on the air and he'd get to a point where it would be disaster, and he would just stop there and leave it right in your head.

"When he was talking about the weather: 'Oh, boy, it's cold out today, it's as cold as the balls (pause) on a pool table.'"

Webber and fellow disc jockey Bob Hartwick made more than in 250 promotional appearances for KVI in one year, appearing before women's groups as "the Hardwick and Webber Social and Marital Adjustment Service."

To publicize the world's fair in Seattle in 1962, they raced each other around the world, going in opposite directions.

Webber later moved to KOMO Television as host of the morning "Buddy Webber Show" on a set resembling a small house with a stuffed moose head that made smart-aleck remarks. He also had an afternoon show on KOMO Radio.

Baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in 1963, he left broadcasting in the early 1970s to join the group's ministry in the Canary Islands.

Webber's wife Betty died in 1995. Survivors include his wife of eight years, Carol Jensen; daughter Jane Praetsch of Wrentham, Mass.; sons Dan Webber of Cadillac, Mich., Mike Webber of Westerly, R.I., and Tim Webber of Reno, Nev. and sister, Dorothy Wilkey, of Bluffton.

A memorial service is scheduled April 2 at the Northshore Senior Center.

blondie

Do any JWD posters know this man or know of this man, especially those in the Seattle area?

rekless

I see he must have left the org. because his memorial is at a senior citizens hall.

Sorry to hear about him even though I never heard of him before.

Dan

rekless

I see he must have left the org. because his memorial is at a senior citizens hall.

Sorry to hear about him even though I never heard of him before.

Dan

Voyager

Blondie:

All of the threads I have been receiving today are related to the (entertainment) category. Here is another one about a (Theater Arts Premiere) that exposes JW sexual misconduct). It is at the bottom of this thread:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theaterarts/2002210751_dram18.html?syndication=rss

It will look like this listed below: I couldn't post all of it because I have already used my 2 posts. Maybe someone else can post the whole article.

The tiny but intrepid Theater Schmeater is staging the Seattle debut of "Hellhound on My Trail," the first (and the most traveled) of the Cassandra plays. It's been likened to the bleak-comic family mysteries of Sam Shepard, and the plot stuffs in drug deals, federal bureaucracy wrangles, Jehovah's Witness worship and sexual misconduct.

blondie

Baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in 1963, he left broadcasting in the early 1970s to join the group's ministry in the Canary Islands.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002211579_webberobit18m.html

Mr. Webber, who was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in 1963, found it increasingly difficult to balance his work with this faith, said his wife. When he had an opportunity through the ministry to help people in the Canary Islands in the early '70s, he quit his job.

"He was at the height of his career, and he had a complete change of heart, so he just dropped the whole thing and spent the rest of his life being a minister because he thought it was more important and more satisfying," Carol Webber said. "And right until the time he died, he was doing the work."

They might be having it a larger venue than the KH..

jeanniebeanz

Sounds like he was a real character...I wonder what he would have become if the witnesses had not taken him away from society?

J

Voyager

Thanks for the extra information Blondie.

A lot of people were at the (height) of their careers just before 1975 and left their jobs, homes, and everthing else they had to persue the preaching work, because after all, Armageddon was just around the corner!--------Yeah right!

Thanks Blondie!

JAVA

You're right Voyager, had he not fallen for the Society's line about '75, his life story could have been richer. His career stopped after joining the Watchtower. The END happened for many JWs in 1975--they lost careers and meaningful lives!

JW--Radio and TV Figure Dies at 82!

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