Mr. Ernest H. "Pete" Cary

Time to Be Born Ernest Hudson “Pete” Cary was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 14, 1928. His parents were Ernest, who worked as a mechanic and painter, and Helen, a lyric soprano who had attended the Boston Conservatory of Music. They divorced when Pete was two, and his mother later remarried Thurston Jamison, a career Army officer. A Time to Live Pete attended Glenville High school but dropped out in 1946. He joined the United States Army and served for three years. During this time, he performed in the Army Choir in Okinawa where he met a choir director who encouraged him to consider a career in radio. After his tour of duty, he returned to Cleveland and remembered the choir director’s advice. He completed his senior year of high school by enrolling for his required classes at John Hay High School and registering for a “radio” class. After earning his diploma, he attended Western Reserve University, majoring in speech, radio and television. There, he was given additional advice from a disc jockey he met: “Knock on any door, and seize any opportunity that comes your way.” So, at the age of 23, he began “knocking” on doors. He went to WABQ-AM, one of the city’s black radio stations, and asked for a job as a newscaster. He was given an audition on-the-spot and told to keep in touch. That one knock led to a job at WABQ-AM as a weekend disk jockey and later to a job at WJMO-AM, another black radio station, first as a news broadcaster before later being appointed to news director and finally the station’s public service director. In 1966, when the Hough Riots erupted, Pete was offered an opportunity to join the news crew of WJW Channel 8 to cover the riots with the stipulation that he would not be compensated. Pete remembered the other advice he had been given: “Seize any opportunity that comes your way;” so, he agreed to the offer. Pete was sorely disappointed as he thought the offer would “give him the mic;” however, he was only used to facilitate interviews with the Hough residents. When asked to do it again, Pete emphatically declined. “Not under those same circumstances,” he answered. Two years later the news director of the station offered him, this time, a real job - as a news reporter at WJW. Pete covered many stories of national significance, among them the 1970 Kent State shootings as well as the race riots occurring across the country during that period. He interviewed scores of influential people, among them: President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, Rev. Drs. Martin Luther King, Sr. and Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, President Richard Nixon, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, The Rev. Billy Graham, Congressman Lois Stokes and Cleveland Mayors Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Locher, Ralph Perk and Carl B. Stokes, B.B. King and many many others. He developed, produced and hosted two public affairs programs: “RAP” (which later became known as “Neighborhood”), a Sunday public affairs show, and “Moral View”. During his tenure at WJW TV, Pete wore several hats: street reporter, assignment editor and producer. And, although George Anthony Moore preceded Pete as one of TV’s first black producer-directors, Pete Cary is considered Cleveland’s first black TV reporter. He was also one of the first TV-8 news reporters to deliver a story live on camera from the scene of a breaking story. Pete retired in 1989 and was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Hall of Fame in 2008. A Time to Serve In addition to being the fine journalist he was, Pete followed in his mother’s footsteps. He sang with the Cleveland Metropolitan Chorus and St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church’s Male Concert Chorus. He was the Ruling Elder at Phillips Avenue Presbyterian Church, co-founder of the Cleveland Presbyterian Radio and TV Committee and served as a volunteer for The Salvation Army, American Cancer Society and The Volunteers of America. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Garden Valley Neighborhood House. A Time to Transition Pete was called home to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Sunday, September 20, 2015. A Time to Mourn Pete Cary leaves to mourn his passing and to cherish many loving memories, his beloved wife of 23 years, Carolyn McDaniels Cary, his son, Carl Cary (Wendy), his sisters, Constance Johnson of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, Karen Jamison Harding (Robert) of Chocowinity, North Carolina and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Ernest Cary, his oldest son, preceded him in death. Lovingly Submitted, The Family

Mr. Ernest H. "Pete" Cary

October 14, 1928 - September 20, 2015