Dr. Ray Mofield
Written by Justin D. Lamb
(Courtesy of Marshall County Genealogical Society)
Upon the death of Dr. Ray Mofield in March 1995, noted Kentucky historian Bill Cunningham (and now Kentucky Supreme Court Justice) remarked in an editorial for the Tribune-Courier, “We here in western Kentucky have lost a dear friend.” Mofield was an indeed a “good friend of western Kentucky” having spent an extensive career as a noted journalist, radio broadcaster, college professor, and historian. However, if you ever asked Mofield what he preferred to be called, he would humbly say, “I am just an ole country boy from Hardin.”
The son of a sharecropper, William Ray Mofield was born on July 3, 1921 to Kelzie and Zela Mofield in Hardin. Growing up in the midst of the Great Depression fostered little opportunity and from an early age Mofield found his escape through radio. In a 1984 interview with West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Dr Mofield recalled his early fascination with radio, “At a young age, I got it in my mind that I wanted to be a radio announcer when I got older. I would listen to the radio often, memorize radio commercials and I would go around reciting the commercials to anybody who would listen.” After graduating from Hardin High School in 1939, Mofield saved up $25 for one semester’s enrollment at Murray State College and would hitch-hike back and forth from Hardin to Murray every day for class. Mofield worked several odd jobs throughout his college years finally earning his teaching degree in 1943. After college, Mofield followed his lifelong dream and entered the radio business when he went to work for Pierce lackey at WPAD-AM in Paducah.
While at WPAD-FM, Mofield gained national attention during the 1948 Presidential Election when his live coverage of the election results and interview with Vice Presidential nominee Alben Barkley at his Paducah home was picked up by CBS, Armed Forces Radio, and BBC. Mofield was later given special recognition by CBS for having the best field reporting during the election. Mofield also conducted a Face the Nation broadcast with Senator John Sherman Cooper which gained notable recognition.
It was during his time with WPAD-FM that Mofield became the first radio announcer to broadcast high school basketball games in Kentucky. Beginning in 1946, Mofield began play by play coverage of the state basketball tournaments including the 1948 Brewers State Championship team.
For several years, Mofield completed the FCC paperwork for all radio stations in west Kentucky, west Tennessee and southeast Missouri and helped several new stations get on the air. Mofield helped Shelby McCallum start WCBL-AM in Benton in December 1954. Mofield started the first radio station in Mayfield and was instrumental helping putt WCIF in Madisonville and WABD in Fort Campbell on the air.
After 13 years with WPAD-FM, Mofield left the station to pursue a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York. After completing his studies in New York, Mofield went to Southern Illinois University where he developed the radio and television academic program all while pursuing his doctorate degree which he earned in 1964.
Mofield went to work at Murray State University in 1964 as an assistant to University President Ralph Woods. Soon after, Mofield became the head of the communications department where he added the broadcast curriculum. Mofield started the college radio station, WKMS-FM, and helped design and secure funding for the Fine Arts Building.
Students often recall that Mofield had a great knowledge of various subjects including history, literature and the Bible and would give out pennies and nickels to students who could answer his random questions in his classes. Mofield retired from teaching at Murray State University in 1991.
Mofield married Janie Bloomingburg on July 24, 1953 and they had one daughter, Ruth Ann. Known as “Mama Mo”, Janie Mofield was a longtime home economics teacher in various Marshall County Schools. She taught at Brewers, Benton, South Marshall High School, and later at Marshall County High School.
An avid historian, Mofield recorded 257 oral history interviews in the late 1970s and early 1980s with several citizens of Marshall County which are now stored at the Marshall County Public Library. Mofield was an avid supporter and booster of Big Singing Day in Marshall County and served on the Society of Preservation of Southern Harmony.
Mofield was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Broadcasters Association in 1989 and was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. Dr. Ray Mofield passed away in 1995 at the age of 73. He was laid to rest in Benton Cemetery. Looking back at Mofield’s extensive career, one could say he didn’t do too badly for an “old country boy from Hardin.”