Jon Duane Hellhake
Final Sign Off
Jon Duane Hellhake
4/26/45 - 4/11/14
(Tribute to be posted soon)
Jim Kimbal, Jon Duane, and Chris Kelly - 2007
Pauline Crooke
Final Sign Off
In Memoriam
Pauline Crooke
1928-2014
We are sad to report the passing of Pauli Crooke on March 27, 2014 at the age of 85. Pauli was a reporter for KBOI AM-FM-TV from 1970-1977, and was highly respected by all and perhaps “feared” by some for her tough “no-nonsense” style of journalism. There’s an old saying that the responsibility of the press is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Pauli did both very well.
Her obituary in the Idaho Statesman was published on April 2, 2014 and can be accessed on line at the link below.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/idahostatesman/obituary.aspx?n=pauline-crooke&pid=170453019
Unfortunately, the History of Idaho Broadcasting does not have a lot of information on Pauli, but many of our members who worked with her probably have some memories, including Marty Holtman and Larry Chase. We plan on doing a short article on Pauli in our next newsletter, as well as honoring her at an upcoming meeting. If you’d like to contribute, we’d appreciate hearing your memories and comments via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Member Norm Gunning offered these comments: “Sad to hear about Pauli but I'd heard her health wasn't good. I spoke to her on the phone after I saw a profile Tim Woodward wrote about her in November of 2010. Pauli was a Television News Pioneer....She and Alice Dieter were among the first female reporters for local television news. She was also what I call a "real" reporter....the kind that digs up original stories. And she was very competitive as Tim's article will attest.”
The article Norm is referring to was published on November 6, 2010 in the Idaho Statesman. Tim had attended several of our Foundation Meetings and wrote some columns based on what he learned at the meetings, as well as his past experiences with the people we were honoring at the meeting. In May of 2010 he attended the meeting at KBOI celebrating the return of KBOI call letters to Channel 2. Pauli did not attend the meeting as she was not living in Boise at the time. Tim wrote a column on how tough KBOI News was to compete with, and mentioned Pauli in the article. Later that summer, Pauli moved back to Boise and Tim and lunch with her. The November column was a result of the lunch, and it offered a full profile who Pauli, including how good she was, and how tough it was to compete against her.
Among the many things Pauli did in her life, include: becoming the first female to serve as a Director of Public Relations and Information at a co-ed college at the College of Idaho from 1953-1970; becoming one of the first female television news reporters in the northwest by working for KBOI (KBCI) from 1970-1977; and becoming the first female news director of a CBS affiliate.
Regarding her early life, Pauli grew up in Nampa, graduating from Nampa High School where she was involved in journalism as the editor of the “Growl” the school newspaper. She also participated in debate and music. After high school, she attended Northwest Nazarene College, the University of Wisconsin school of Journalism, and later graduated from the College of Idaho. From 1946-1952, she was a newspaper reporter for the Idaho Free Press in Nampa, and later worked in their advertising department, prior to going to work for the College of Idaho for 17 years. Then after 7 years at KBOI, she served as public information consultant to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Health Care. In 1978, she moved to New York City and served as executive director of the Corporate Theatre Fund, which raised funds for seven non-profit professional theatres in the New York region. From 1980-1984, Pauli was the development director for Animal Medical Center “the Mayo Clinic for animals” and then for the pediatrics department at Cornell University Medical Center until ill health her forced her to take an early retirement in 1987, after which she moved to Anacortes, Washington.
Paul was married to Richard Crooke from 1951-1960 and is survived by her daughter Cheryl, her sister Virginia, and her bother Pat Hilty of Boise. No funeral services have been announced (at least that we know of), but the Foundation plans on honoring her at our next meeting by doing a short tribute to her, and asking for some audio comments from people who worked with her, all of which will all be posted on our website. We’d appreciate hearing your memories and comments via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
KBOI News Team, 1970
Bottom Row: (all seated) News Director Dick Eardley, Garth Andrews, and Bill Gratton.
2nd row (standing behind, leaning on, or seated at the news desk) unidentified female,
Marty Naser, unidentified female, Alice Dieter, unidentified female.
3rd row (standing) Paul J. Schneider, Danny O’Halleran, Mary Jo Aldape, Pauli Crooke,
unidentified female, artist Forrest Christensen.
Back row (standing) unidentified male, Jim Bates, John Clark, assistant news director Al Buch,
Thad Weisman, Dwight Jensen, Terry Porter, and Bob Asbury.
Welcome
Welcome to the
HISTORY OF IDAHO BROADCASTING
Website.
This site is currently undergoing extensive renovation. It may be a few
weeks before all the features are fully operational.
Thanks for your patience!
(Progress on site updating is here.)
A tip to help you find stuff -- If you aren't sure where to look to find something on this site, you can simply search for it. For example, if you can't remember the present call letters of a station from the past, using the "Search Site" link in the upper right corner of most pages, type what you are looking for and hit <enter> and you will find a list of all the places on this site where that is mentioned. Any keyword can be used. Happy looking !
A request from the webmaster -- If you are reading this, and work for a radio station, I would like you to check the information posted for your station, particularly the "Timeline". In the information I have available, there are gaps where I may have been unable to find all the correct dates and/or changes that have occurred over the past years. If you can provide any new information, or correct any erroneous information, please contact me. If no timeline exists yet for your station, pass along what you know and we can include it on the site.
Thank you!
-- Rockwell Smith
NOTE: Currently many links are faulty. This is part of the renovation. They will be working soon.
I will update this note when most are working again.
To provide as an independent, non partisan organization, a permanent and living repository, for the preservation of the history of radio and television broadcasting within the State of Idaho, from inception, to and including, the present;
To bring to the community at large a broader knowledge of how pioneers in Idaho Broadcasting created enormous impact on the evolution of society;
To stimulate in people of all ages, especially the young, a recognition of the practical and real contributions to our quality of life that radio and television broadcasting has provided, and continues to provide, to the citizens of Idaho.
The History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation, Inc. is an Idaho non-profit corporation incorporated in January of 2004 with the Idaho Secretary of State. Application for Recognition of Exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to be filed for in the immediate future.
Art Gregory is President of the organization, Frank Aden Jr. is Vice President and Secretary, and Rockwell D. Smith is Treasurer. There are no paid employees. The corporation is staffed by volunteers. Funding for the organization will come from donations, membership and sponsorship fees, grants, and through the sale of official History of Idaho Broadcasting Merchandise and Memorabilia. All funds raised will be used to fund the work of the organization.
David Hammons, CPA with the firm Wilson Harris & Company of Boise is the Corporation’s financial advisor.
Randolph E. Farber, Nampa Attorney, is the Corporation’s General Counsel.
Robert L. Shaver, Registered Patent Attorney with the Boise firm Dykas, Shaver & Nipper, is the Corporation’s Copyright Advisor.
History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.
6127 N. Hastings Avenue - Boise, ID 83714
Phone/Fax: (208) 853-7756 | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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