Pittsburgh’s beloved weatherman for generations
Joe DeNardo, a broadcasting legend whose Pittsburghese forecasts of “partly clahdy” with “shars” and wisecracking banter with anchorman Paul Long entertained generations of viewers, died Friday of lung cancer. He was 87.
Behind the quick wit and pocket handkerchiefs was a man with a meteorology degree from the University of Chicago. His professors were physicist Enrico Fermi, creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, and Tetsuya Fajita, who devised the Fajita scale that rates a tornado’s intensity.
Mr. DeNardo loved to make people laugh.
In a typical on-air exchange, Paul Long asked, “Joe, will I be able to play golf this weekend?”
“Probably not, Mr. Long. You never could play golf before,” Mr. DeNardo replied.
“He was a big deal in the marketplace, particularly in another era,” said Jim Hefner, a former general manager of WTAE-TV who worked at the station from 1986 to 2002. “He wasvery serious about the weather. He could also laugh at himself. He and Paul Long had a wonderful relationshipon the air and off the air.” Mr.Long died in 2002.
So authoritative were Mr. DeNardo’s forecasts that WTAE promoted its chief meteorologist
with an ad campaign in the 1990s. On black billboards, white letters stated simply, “Joe Said It Would.”
Mr. DeNardo, who was honored with a Lifetime AchievementEmmy Award, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998 and stayed off the air for three months. He had one lung removed that same year. He retired from WTAE in 2005.
At work, he was demanding, Mr. Hefner said.
“It was either in the book of Genesis or the U.S. Constitution that he got four minutes every night to do his weather, whether there was 15 inches of snow coming or it’s August and it’s hot with a chance of thundershowers. He did it a certain way. The audience got used to that,” Mr. Hefner said.
Mr. DeNardo invited Mr. Hefner to play in the “Linguini Open,” an event that began decades ago at Montour Heights Country Club when four Italian men golfed on the first Sunday in November. Afterward, they dined on linguini with white clam or traditional red sauce at one of the players’ homes.
Mr. DeNardo grew up in Martins Ferry, Ohio, where his speed on the basketball court earned him the nickname “The Flash.” Before graduating in 1948 from Wheeling Central Catholic in West Virginia, he shot a buzzer-beating basket that helped his high school win a championship.
His father had left the family and he was raised by his mother and grandmother. They ran a small grocery and diner near the local hospital.
To afford Duquesne University, Mr. DeNardo joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps. After he graduated, he was one of 27 young officers trained in meteorology at the University of Chicago, in 1952 and 1953. To fulfill his military service, from 1953 to 1956, Mr. DeNardo served as a commander at the USAF Weather Detachment at Greater PittsburghAirForceBase. Mr. DeNardo met his wife, Dolores, at his family’s business. His son, Doug DeNardo of Moon, recalled, “My mom was in nurse’s training at Martins Ferry Hospital and met him when she came into the grocerette.”
They bought a house in Moon in 1955. With an Air Force buddy, David G. McFarland, he operated DeNardo & McFarland Weather Services from 1956 through 1979. Their clients included corporations, utility companies, private aviation services, cemeteries and Downtown bakeries.
Mr. DeNardo answered a blind ad in 1957 and began forecasting for KDKA Radio, then for KDKA television on Sunday nights from 1960 to 1969. Back then, KDKA dominated the television ratings, said Joe Rovitto, a former WTAEnews director.
“John Conomikes [a Hearst Broadcasting executive] had the brilliant idea to recruit Joe and Paul together and make them the main anchor team on Channel 4. That really launched Channel 4 into becoming a very successful news operation,” Mr. Rovitto said.
Stephen Cropper, the current chief meteorologist at WPXI-TV, was 32 when he arrived at WTAE-TV in 1995.
“He taught me about the weather, of course, but more importantly, about life. I remember calculating how much it would cost to raise a kid from birth through college.”
In his loud, gravelly voice, Mr. DeNardo told Mr. Cropper, “You can’t approach it like that. You’ll find the money. Jesus Christ, just have the kids!”
Mr. Cropper turned 55 on May 21 and Mr. DeNardo left him a voicemail, saying, “You are now as old as the average overnight temperature. Happy Birthday.”
More than 30 years ago, Jeanne Caliguiri, the widow of former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri, joined Pat Rooney, the wife of the late Steelers chariman Dan Rooney, and Mr. DeNardo for lunch. That began WTAE’s partnership with the Salvation Army and Project Bundle-Up, which provides new winter coats, hats, gloves, mittens and boots to children and senior citizens.
“A lot of people lend their name. Joe didn’t lend his name. He was part of it. We worked together for 15 or 20 active years. He took children shopping when we went for coats,”Mrs. Caliguiri said.
In addition to his son, Mr. DeNardo is survived by another son, Jeff, also of Moon; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. Dolores DeNardo died in 2009.
Visitation is from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Huntsman Funeral Homein Moon. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Margaret Mary Parish, 1 Parish Place, Moon. Burial will follow in Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Moon.
Memorials may be made to Project Bundle-Up, 70 N. Bell Ave., Carnegie 15106.