Slim Lehart, right, gets congratulations on “Slim Lehart Day” in Wheeling in 2021. Lehart died this previous weekend at age 88. (File Photo)
WHEELING — Slim Lehart — understood everywhere as “The Wheeling Cat” and whose c and w stylings were an Ohio Valley staple for years — died this previous weekend at age 88.
Family members validated Lehart’s death Sunday night, however decreased even more public remark.
Lehart, born Richard Hartley in Marshall County in 1935, transferred to Wheeling at age 15. At age 17, he signed up with the United States Navy and served in the Korean War. Upon returning from service, he relied on c and w and the legend of Slim Lehart started.
Lehart made his very first look for the Wheeling Jamboree at the Rex Theater in 1965. For years later, his imposing existence was felt for both the Wheeling Jamboree and Jamboree U.S.A., opening almost every Saturday performance.
He shared the phase with many c and w legends. In a 2021 interview, he remembered among his fondest memories in 1966, when Johnny Cash opened for him in Nashville.
His name, “The Wheeling Cat,” originated from his signature tune. Other significant tunes consisted of “Love Loses Power,” “Gotta Put A Little Sunshine,” “Sunshine In My Soul” and “Just Before Goodbye.”
Lehart ensured audiences got their money’s worth with his energetic efficiencies.
“My style was active, very active,” he said in 2021. “I was off the stage and doing all kinds of stuff. I was doing a show.”
Lehart and the Capitol Theatre ended up being associated. He was amongst those promoting the location to resume its doors when it closed.
And when Lehart got to carry out at the theater after it was reanimated, he knelt down to kiss the phase. He likewise had the honor of setting the Capitol Theatre’s home mortgage documents aflame after that home mortgage was settled.
In Lehart’s later years, the Capitol Theatre stayed a vital part of his life. When the City of Wheeling popular “Slim Lehart Day” in 2021, that honor was bestowed in front of the theatre’s entryway. It remained in front of that location in 2014 where Lehart was granted his own star on its “Walkway of Stars.” It was the very first addition to the sidewalk given that 1983.
Music stayed a part of Lehart’s life, too. In previous years, he had actually welcomed a few of his Jamboree U.S.A. compatriots to his house for a casual jam session and a chance to switch stories and remember memories.
Lehart had lots of other connections to the Ohio Valley, owning an interest in a Wheeling bar, Club Madrid, running his own bar, the Trade Winds, in Marshall County and spending 36 years as a Marshall County commissioner.
Funeral and memorial plans have yet to be revealed.
