Pat Henry is remembered for his role in creating and nurturing pioneering Bay Area jazz station KJAZ.
Born in Bakersfield, Henry served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he began working in broadcasting in the Bay Area. He had an affinity for jazz, building a following on Oakland’s KROW by adding jazz records to his music mix. Henry earned the honor of “Jazz Broadcaster of the Year” from Metronome Magazine in 1956.
While still working at KROW, Henry started the effort to launch KJAZ. He and partner Dave Larsen got it on the air in 1959 and built it into an important destination for jazz musicians and their fans. Henry acquired sole ownership of the station from Larsen a year after their initial broadcasts and held the station until its 1980 sale to Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson and Ron Cowan, the developer of Alameda’s Harbor Bay Isle community. Henry stayed on the air with a Saturday afternoon show on KCSM through the ’90s.
Henry almost didn’t get the ideal call letters for his station. The Federal Communications Commission told him KJAZ had been assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and assigned his station the call letters KZEE. Henry was able to win a legal battle and claim KJAZ.
Pat Henry died in 1999 at age 73.