The longtime owner of Missourinet Chillicothe affiliate KCHI Radio (AM 1010 and FM 102.5) has died.
KCHI has announced that 57-year-old Dan Leatherman died Sunday.
He bought the radio station in April 1996, placing a strong emphasis on local news and local and high school sports coverage.
Veteran KCHI news director Tom Tingerthal tells Missourinet Leatherman “knew the value of small town and small market radio and the importance of the station to the community.”
KCHI has written a story, focusing on Leatherman’s emphasis on the community.
Their story noted that he loved small town radio and believed in the value of radio to the local community.
“If it’s important to the local community, cover it and tell them what they need to know,” KCHI’s story quotes Leatherman as saying frequently.
KCHI’s article notes that Leatherman described the radio station as Chillicothe’s biggest cheerleader.
Leatherman’s motto was “think local.”
Leatherman was well-known in radio across the state, as well as in the northwest Missouri business community.
He served at one time as the Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce President, and also served on the Hedrick Medical Center Board.
Funeral services have been scheduled for Leatherman.
KCHI reports a parish rosary is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 4 at Heritage Funeral Home in Chillicothe, with visitation to follow until 8 p.m.
Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday morning at 10 at St. Columban Catholic Church in Chillicothe.
This is the second death in 2018 involving a prominent media member in Chillicothe.
Longtime Chillicothe Mayor Chuck Haney died in May at the age of 81.
Haney and Leatherman were friends. Haney was a Missouri Press Association Hall of Famer, spending years as a reporter, newspaper publisher and radio broadcaster, primarily in northwest Missouri.
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