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“Best-known voice on radio” was staunch supporter of The Salvation Army.
Harvey was a loyal supporter of The Salvation Army, and with his wife, Angel, attended worship services for several years at the Norridge Citadel Corps in Chicago. At the time Majors Eugene and Joyce Anderson, now retired, were the corps officers. They formed a close relationship with the Harveys.
A humble and gracious supporter
Anderson recalled: “Paul and Angel Harvey attended the Norridge Corps regularly from 1988 through our tenure as corps officers…they always sat together, as close as possible to the band’s drum section, and when asked what their draw to the Army was, he shared that the ‘meetings appealed to them because they had spirit and were like an oasis in the desert.’
“They resisted any public attention in our public meetings and made it known to me their desire was to be treated no differently than any one else.
“On one Thanksgiving Day, Mr. Harvey came to the corps unannounced and found me in the building alone. He brought the biggest prepared turkey I’ve ever seen and wondered if I could find some family in need to get it. Our service list of families in need had already been met…so he said ‘will you take it home to your family?’ Major Joyce, my son and I had turkey until Christmas…compliments of Paul and Angel Harvey.
“On several occasions Paul liked what was said in the Army’s public meetings and would use that in his radio broadcasts. On each occasion he would give us a phone call just to check out the facts and get our approval. His version always came out better than ours!
On the occasion of our farewell from Norridge, Paul and Angel came to the farewell dinner bringing a dish to pass just like everyone else. A couple of years later when Major Joyce and I transferred to south Asia (Sri Lanka), Paul personally invited us to dinner with him and Angel at the ABC studio in Chicago. Paul grilled us at length about our motivation for going and then led us in prayer with their blessing for our ministry.”
A valued friend of The Salvation Army
On a national scale, Harvey always spoke highly of The Salvation Army—and would sometimes use a portion of his radio show to do so. In a 2005 speech at The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Organizations Conference in Minneapolis, Harvey expressed his conviction that “America Needs The Salvation Army.”
Called “the voice of Middle America” by the media for his flag-waving conservatism, Harvey died surrounded by family in a Phoenix hospital, an ABC Radio Networks spokesman said.
“Paul Harvey was the most listened to man in the history of radio,” said Bruce DuMont, president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications and host of the nationally syndicated Beyond the Beltway. “There is no one who will ever come close to him.”
His five-minute “The Rest of the Story” broadcasts featured historical vignettes with surprise endings. He’d end each broadcast with his signature: “Paul Harvey. [long pause] Good day!”
Good day to you Mr. Harvey, and thank you from The Salvation Army!
Submitted by Jeff Curnow, public and corporate relations manager, USA Central Territory. Some information in this report is from a March 1, 2009 Chicago Tribune article.
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