LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – The WHAS-TV family is mourning the death of the man who put our daylong Kentucky Derby coverage in the 1980s and 1990s on the map.

Former director Jerry Drury died Monday in Louisville at Norton Hospital.

Drury was the director and producer of our Kentucky Derby coverage, which at one point made for a 14-hour broadcast day. He started working at WHAS11 in 1970.

He won dozens of awards and worked with the greats like Cawood Ledford of WHAS and Jim McKay of ABC. McKay would also be in our TV compound during Derby week.

Drury was the captain of the ship on Derby day. He wrote the scripts then directed the look down to the second. His first derby was 1980 and his last one, 2000, when ABC sports broadcast its final Derby.

We all knew him as “‘Ol Dru” because he called himself that. The Harrodsburg native died at the age of 72.

In our minds, he left us an amazing legacy, in director’s terms, he’ll never “fade to black.”

Here’s Jerry’s obituary as it appeared in the Courier-Journal on May 1, 2019.

Jerry Dale Drury

Louisville – The man behind the broadcasting and production of the biggest day in the State of Kentucky, “The Kentucky Derby”, Mr. Jerry Dale Drury, 72 of Louisville passed away April 29, 2019 at Norton Brownsboro Hospital. He was born May 6, 1946 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky to the late Marshall and Gladys Sanders Drury. He was also preceded in death by a brother, Buddy Coleman.

Jerry obtained his Masters degree in Counseling with an undergrad in Communications in 1968 from Western Kentucky University and was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was a brilliant, intelligent man. Jerry considered the Kentucky Derby his Holiday. He worked as a television producer for 25 years with WHAS 11 and ESPN, making sure that the Derby went off without a hitch. He was involved every year with the WHAS Crusade for Children which was near and dear to his heart. He was also an avid University of Kentucky fan. He was known to many as “Ole Dru.”

Those left to cherish his memory are his son, Spencer Drury and his wife Stacey; two granddaughters, Emma and Mayzie; a cousin, Diane Thacker; and numerous friends and colleagues.

Visitation for Jerry will be held from 2-8 p.m., Friday, May3, 2019 at Ratterman Funeral Home, 12900 Shelbyville Road, East Louisville. A private burial will be held at a later date.

Memorial contributions in memory of Jerry may be made to the WHAS Crusade for Children, 520 West Chestnut Street, Louisville, KY 40202.

Published in The Courier-Journal on May 1, 2019

Two Louisville institutions – Hadley Pottery and the WHAS Crusade for Children – are teaming up to make life better for children with special needs.

With Thunder, Oaks and Derby coming up you may be looking for unique dinnerware for your party plans. Now you can liven up your table and drink settings and help children with special needs.

Known nationally for its iconic, handmade pieces, Louisville’s Hadley Pottery is doing a special month-long event for the WHAS Crusade for Children.

20% discount every Saturday
and 20% to the Crusade during April

“We’re going to have a 20% off discount every Saturday in April, whatever our sales are 20% of them are going to the Crusade. We’re going to have a weekly drawing every Saturday for people to put in a chance to win a prize of a vase and at the end of the month of April we’re going to give away our large big planter,” says Jerry Day of Hadley Pottery.

Hadley Pottery
Open from 9:00am to 3:00pm on Saturdays (Crusade sale day!)
Open Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm

Easily accessible from interstates I-64, I-65 and I-71

Rachel Platt hosted the WHAS Crusade for Children for three years from 2016 to 2018.  Now she’s stepping aside and passing the torch to WHAS11’s Lisa Hutson who will be co-hosting with Terry Meiners this year. A few months ago, Rachel left WHAS11 News and accepted a position as Director of Community Engagement at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville.

Rachel and Lisa stopped by WHAS11’s Great Day Live on Wednesday, March 27th to make the big announcement. They were joined by Crusade CEO Dawn Lee, to talk about what’s coming up this year on the 66th annual WHAS Crusade for Children.

The WHAS Crusade for Children is always the first weekend in June, and this year it’s June 1 and June 2, 2019.

Melissa Swan co-hosted with Terry Meiners from 2001 to 2015.

More about Lisa Hutson from WHAS11.com

Lisa Hutson is a news reporter/anchor at WHAS11 in Louisville, KY, specializing in general assignment reporting.

I am so excited to return to my Kentucky roots and call Louisville my new home.

I was born just a few hours south in Murray, Kentucky where my family still resides. While I moved to Arkansas in my early years, I spent many summers coming back to my grandfather’s farm in a little community we like to call Hico, Kentucky. I come from a long line of hard-working Kentucky farmers and I’m still a country girl at heart.

From the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. I lead my high school journalism program while working part-time at the local radio/community television station doing everything from filming sporting events to taking out the trash and I loved it.

My college years took me to Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas where I studied Marriage and Family Therapy.

I returned to my passion for storytelling in 2010 at KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas. For 3 years, I covered wildfires, tornadoes and the everyday struggles of everyday people. While in Little Rock, I shined a light on the issues local veterans face returning from multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in my series “Life After War.”

My reporting career took me to WXIX in Cincinnati in 2013. I am most proud of a documentary series called “Finding Home” where I followed a local family’s journey out of homelessness which garnered thousands of dollars in donations to local homeless shelters.

For the last two years, I’ve been waking up early in Waco, Texas as a morning news anchor at KCEN telling stories through my series “Heart of Central Texas.”

My husband Wayne and I are so eager to try all the great food that Louisville has to offer and attend those exciting UK-Louisville basketball games. I am so thrilled to serve the city of Louisville and I’m excited to get to work telling the stories that matter to the people of this amazing city.