Funeral Services Planned for Richard Hendrickson, Longtime Weather Observer, Who Died at 103

The East End lost a treasure this week when longtime weather observer Richard Hendrickson died on January 9 at the Westhampton Care Center. He was 103 years old.

Hendrickson, a Bridgehampton resident, was deeply devoted to the weather, performing his duties for decades and delighting in sharing stories of days gone by, including memories of the Hurricane of ‘38.

Back in 2012, New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. and the Southampton Town Board both presented proclamations to Hendrickson to recognize his legacy of service and 100th birthday.

Hendrickson bought two acres on Lumber Lane for $500 in 1935 and ran a poultry farm, which hatched 2,000 chicks every spring. He sold the farm a number of years ago and built his next home on an adjacent property. But besides being a retired poultry farmer, Hendrickson was long known around the East End for his decades as a cooperative weather observer.

From his home weather station, Hendrickson has recorded the weather twice a day for the National Weather Service since 1930.

Local and national news sources have turned to Hendrickson for his expert insight before and after big weather events for many years. After a severe snowstorm in December 2010 buried the East End, Patch turned to Hendrickson. He said that based on his observations of wind speeds and snow accumulation, the storm fell short of being accurately labeled a blizzard. And before Tropical Storm Irene struck Bridgehampton, a Wall Street Journal website shot a video with Hendrickson in his weather station and got his predictions.

In 2013, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched a website to mark the 75th anniversary of the Hurricane of 1938, “one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes in recorded history,” the weather organization said.

The hurricane, known as the “Long Island Express,” ripped into the area, slamming into Long Island as a Category 3 storm, and heading into southern New England, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.

Filled with damage photos, old film reels, news clippings, a timeline, a track map, and a videotaped interview with Hendrickson, who recalled living through the worst recorded storm in history, the site captures the wrath of the hurricane for a new generation.

Recalling the “Great New England Hurricane of 1938” in the video, Hendrickson described limbs down, leaves blowing, roofs raised on buildings and support timbers for homes being torn from the ground.

“And it blew. Then the first thing you know that chicken house was gone,” he said.”Two of the big lane houses up on the hill were gone . . . There were no trees left in the orchard.”

With a forward speed of 47 miles per hour and winds over 100 miles an hour, the hurricane created a destructive storm surge that decimated homes and communities, the NOAA video shows.

Meteorologists David Stark, Lauren Nash, Joey Picca and Nancy Furbush created the website, which focuses on locations in the New York forecast area.

Gripping YouTube videos of rare storm footage captured a hurricane that killed hundreds, destroyed thousands of homes, and left scores homeless, shaping Long Island’s history and geography as inlets were formed. The storm, the video explains, resulted in billions dollars of damage.

“But we lived through it. And you made each day the best you could, under those conditions,” Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson’s remarks the day he was honored in Southampton centered on two major points: The way of life he knew on the East End as a young man was drying up, and — based on more than 80 years of observations — he said with certainty that global warming was real.

Of farming, he said, “There’s nothing better than working seven days a week with livestock.” But, he added, “It is a way of life that is leaving us.”

He counted himelf fortunate to live on Long Island: “It’s overcrowded in some spots, but there’s no place like it in the world.”

Visitation will be held at Brockett Funeral Home on Friday, January 22 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The funeral home is located at 203 Hampton Road in Southampton Village.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 23, at 11 a.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, located at 2429 Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton. Burial will follow at Edgewood Cemetery in Bridgehampton.

Patch file photo of Richard Hendrickson being honored by the town board in 2012.