Arthur Godfrey Gone But Not Forgotten

Arthur Godfrey Gone But Not Forgotten

By Joe Motheral

In 1946, Manhattan-based entertainer Arthur Godfrey purchased an elaborate home with significant acreage just west of Leesburg in Paeonian Springs.

He’d been trained as a pilot in the Navy and after buying the Virginia property, often flew back and forth between Virginia and New York, where he had a popular radio show and later became one of television’s earliest stars.

Arthur Godfrey

Photo courtesy

Godfrey, who died in 1983 at age 80, spent considerable time in Loudoun County. Known as “The Old Redhead,” he would often pull out his ukulele and sing, “In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on the trail of the lonesome pine.”

The variety show “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” offered a Who’s Who of the era’s brightest stars—Pat Boone, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Eddie Fisher and country and Western singer Patsy Cline from Winchester. His show was rated No. 2, trailing only “I Love Lucy.” His sponsors adored him, and he personally hawked many of the products himself, particularly Lipton Tea.

When he flew back to Virginia, he owned a runway on Edwards’ Ferry Road between today’s Route 15 bypass and Leesburg. At the time the area, now occupied by commercial and residential entities, was barren. He initially flew a single engine plane, but later purchased a larger DC-3, much to the dismay of local officials who objected to its size and potential danger.

Alfred Dennis, who lived in Leesburg at the time, recalled that, “people objected to the noise they often described as rattling windows and crashing dishes.”

Godfrey eventually sold the land and donated a portion of the money to an airport commission dedicated to development of a new airport that was completed and became operational in 1964. Because of Godfrey’s involvement, the airport is named, “Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field.” He referred to it as the “Old Cow Pasture.”

The Donaldson family lived near Godfrey’s Beacon Hill Farm in Paeonian Springs. Bruce Donaldson, who was seven when Godfrey moved in, said his parents knew him quite well. In 1957 he entered four horses at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show.

“He used to buzz his house to let his wife, Mary, know to come and pick him up at the airport,” Bruce recalled, adding that he still remembers Godfrey riding his horse, Goldie, in their yard and his mother singing in a church choir with Mary Godfrey.

He said Godfrey seemed to have something of a somewhat gruff exterior, “but once you got beyond that, he was friendly.”

Bruce’s father was interested in organic farming and Godfrey “was kind enough to send him seeds” for that purpose. Godfrey also was known as something of an environmentalist and at one point, had elk and bison on his land. And Bruce said that he also had an elephant for a time. He did like hunting and went on safari to Africa on several occasions.

Following Godfrey’s death in 1983, his house went up for sale. Today, after a succession of owners. Part of Godfrey’s “animal kingdom” also consisted of buffalos that later had ended up on a farm south of Leesburg.

That farmer, Wray Dawson, said the buffalo attracted many visitors, including a number of Native Americans. He said they would come occasionally by the busload and sit on a small hill overlooking the herd.

Eeda Dennis, who lived with her husband, Alfred, in Leesburg back then said she met Godfrey once with her mother-in-law and recalled him as being “pleasant. We talked about the weather.”