Former Henderson broadcaster, state senator and mayor Henry G. Lackey died Thursday morning, Feb. 5, at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center with his family by his side, according to an obituary shared by his daughter, Kate Lackey Broeckling. He was 78.
“Mayor Lackey was certainly a beloved figure in our community,” current Mayor Brad Staton said in a statement. “From broadcasting to aviation to service and leadership, he left his mark in a significant way. We will miss him, and I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to his many friends and family throughout our city.”
“He was the voice of Henderson: On the radio, at City Hall, in the Kentucky Senate,” Henderson County Judge/Executive Brad Schneider declared in a statement.
Lackey followed in the footsteps of his father, Hecht Lackey, in both broadcasting and politics.
Hecht came to Henderson in 1941 to launch WSON-AM; two of his brothers operated radio stations in Paducah and Hopkinsville, and all three brothers—like their father—became mayors of their respective cities, with Hecht Lackey serving as mayor of Henderson from 1953 through 1961 along with other roles in state government.
Hecht Lackey added WSON-FM (later becoming WKDQ) in 1947.
Henry Lackey began working for the stations in the mid-1950s at about age of 9, delivering bills. “A stamp was three cents and they paid me two cents,” saving a penny for each bill, he recalled in 1976. By age 12, the younger Lackey had his own radio program.
A 1965 graduate of Henderson High School, Lackey earned his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from the University of Kentucky and his master’s in broadcast management from Michigan State University. Henry Lackey worked briefly in television in Lexington, Dayton, and Louisville before returning to Henderson in late 1971 to manage his father’s radio stations here.
Lackey bought WSON and WKDQ from his father in 1979.
He arranged for the sale of the two stations in 1984, but broadcast regulators determined that WSON had too much overlap with another AM station owned by the buyer.
So Lackey revamped WSON into a local news and sports station, broadcasting Henderson County High and University of Kentucky football and basketball games, St. Louis Cardinals baseball and Tennessee Titans football games along with oldies music.
Lackey and his staff built WSON into what the Kentucky Broadcasters Association called “one of Kentucky’s most successful community radio stations.” At a time when many AM radio stations were little more than afterthoughts, WSON managed sales of a half-million dollars by 2007, WSON’s Greg Busby said in 2015 as part of Lackey’s induction into the Henderson Alumni Hall of Fame.
Aside from WSON’s award-winning news broadcasts and weekday public affairs program Speak Up, Lackey’s most ambitious undertaking was the hours-long Friday night coverage of County High football games with sidekick Leo Peckenpaugh; WSON’s coverage rivaled that of major college game broadcasts.
“As a young sports reporter at The Gleaner, I spent a lot of Friday nights sitting a few seats away from Henry in high school football press boxes, and the enthusiasm and passion for Henderson County High School and its students that came through in his game broadcasts always impressed me,” Schneider said. “He went all out to make young people and their families feel special and appreciated.”
Lackey served more than 20 years on the board of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association, including serving as its chairman in 1981. Like his father and his uncles F.E. “Dutch” Lackey of Hopkinsville and Pierce Lackey of Paducah, Henry Lackey was inducted into the KBA’s Kentucky Mic Hall of Fame, the association’s highest honor.
Lackey sold WSON in December 2010 to Ed Henson.
Aside from broadcasting, Lackey had a lifelong interest in politics. He once recalled campaigning as a youngster on bicycle for both his father and state Sen. Bill Sullivan.
He served two terms as a Henderson city commissioner from 1978 through 1981. When Sullivan announced that he would retire from his Senate seat, Lackey in 1981 won a three-way race against fellow Henderson businessmen Paul Herron Jr. and John Hall to succeed him, serving from 1982 to 1987.
Lackey lost to Hall in the primary of 1986, but came back to defeat him in a rematch in 1990, serving a second term from 1991 to 1995. Among the causes he championed in the legislature were tightening state drunk driving and seatbelt laws.
In 1994, he challenged incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Barlow for the Democratic nomination but lost.
Lackey returned to politics years later, serving as mayor of Henderson from 2003 to 2006. In his final year of office, the Henderson City Commission voted 4-1 to ban indoor smoking throughout the city; Lackey called it “the strongest (anti-smoking) ordinance in this state and maybe one of the best in the whole country.” The city also instituted an occupational tax during his term.
He paid the price at the polls; when seeking re-election, he came in third in the primary in 2006.
But Lackey’s passion for the community was unquestioned.
“His work ethic was also something I admired about Henry,” Schneider said. “While he was mayor, a typical day might entail work on radio station business all morning, (including being the primary ad salesman in many instances), prepare interviews for his football pre-game show in the afternoon, then tackle whatever city issues needed his attention, and then be a husband, father and friend with whatever moments he had left before his head hit the pillow.
“Very few people ever spent more energy promoting, encouraging and helping Hendersonians than Henry.”
Lackey served as commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming from 2008 to 2010, overseeing the licensing and regulation of more than 800 charities that engage in charitable gaming.
An avid private pilot with more than 7,500 hours of flight time, he in 2010 became deputy commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Aviation.
In 2016, Lackey became president and CEO of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association, retiring in 2018.
“In every sense of the word, Henry was a broadcaster,” Chris Winkle, the KBA’s current president and CEO, said in a statement. “He loved the broadcast industry and especially the Kentucky Broadcasters Association. He never met a stranger and you could always count on his larger-than-life smile and personality. Henry was a dear friend and mentor to so many. He will be deeply missed and remembered well beyond his time on this earth.”
In recent years he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
According to his obituary, a worship service will be scheduled at a later date for family and friends. The family suggests donations to the University of Kentucky Neuroscience Institute or the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is being updated.
