Bridgehampton's Richard Hendrickson, U.S. Weather Observer for 80 Years, Dies

Richard G. Hendrickson, who reported weather observations from his Bridgehampton home since 1930, died on Saturday at the Westhampton Care Center. He was 103 years old. 

A volunteer United States Cooperative weather observer, he recorded weather conditions, including wind direction, temperatures, and precipitation, twice a day from his farm in Bridgehampton for 80 years, since he was 18,  before the existence of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He tallied more than 150,000 individual weather observations, NOAA reported in 2014, when he was honored. 

At 101, he was still at it, though his health had declined over the past year. Sara Henrickson, who had become his caregiver, told The Star last year that her grandfather felt an obligation to continue his observations. "And it's kept him sharp. It gives him a reason and a purpose," she said. 

Mr. Hendrickson kept a station in his backyard, the size of a large birdhouse, along with a rain collector, a snow board to collect snowfall, and a wind vane. He wrote two books, "Winds of the Fish's Tail: Eastern Long Island Weather Observations and Folklore," published in 1996, and "From the Bushy Plain of Bulls Head: Whisperings and Wanderings," published in 2006.

He was honored for his longstanding service last year in a ceremony at the National Weather Service's weather forecast office in Upton. NOAA named a new 80 years of service award in his honor in 2014. He was the first observer in the program's history to serve for more than eight decades. 

While funeral arrangements are still being finalized, services are expected to begin on Friday, Jan. 22 at the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral will be held at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 11 a.m., followed by burial at Edgewood Cemetery in Bridgehampton. 

A full obituary will appear in a future issue of The Star.