Slim Lehart obit

SLIM LEHART Has Died

 

He was not on the list.

On Saturday, August 5, 2023, Richard Edmund Hartley, Sr., aka “Slim Lehart – The Wheeling Cat” passed away at Liza’s Place. He was born on June 25, 1935, in Calis, WV, a son of the late Delbert O. Hartley and Nellie Whiteman Hartley. He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara, and his first wife, Shirley, along with two brothers, Delbert O. Hartley, Jr and Wesley A. Hartley and two sisters, Dora Jean Hartley, and Elvira Dague.

He was a Korean War veteran serving on the Navy’s USS Randolph and served as a Marshall County Commissioner. For more than 50 years, his passion was to bring joy to people through his music and traveled across the US and Canada. He got his first start on the Wheeling Jamboree in 1965 and became a regular cast member in 1970 and shared the stage with some of the biggest stars of the 1970’s and 1980’s. In 2010, he was named “Lifetime Member” of the Wheeling Jamboree and has a star in front of the Capitol Music Hall along with 50 other entertainers that had been honored. In 2012, WV Governor Tomblin named him “Distinguished Mountaineer” and the WV Senate named him “Distinguished Citizen.” Throughout his life, he always looked for ways to give back to the local communities.

Surviving is his sister Louise Gray and children, Richard E. Hartley, Jr. (Leslie) of Cochranville, PA, Daryl L. Hartley (Candy) of Wheeling, WV, Judy Ann DeLeon (Del) of Tampa, FL and Robert Z. Hartley (Karen) of Wheeling, WV along with five grandchildren, Chad, Robert, Alyson, Amanda, and Jesse and three great grandchildren.

Memorial Services will be held on August 26, 2023, at 10 am at the Church of Christ on 1310 National Road, Wheeling, WV.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Liza’s Place in Wheeling, WV.

Arrangements by Kepner Funeral Home, 166 Kruger Street, Wheeling, WV 26003 (304-242- 2311).