Richard Berkley, Kansas City’s only mayor to serve three terms remembered in photos
By The Kansas City Star
Mayor Richard Berkley, center, was sworn in for his first term in 1979. Left to right are outgoing Mayor Charles B. Wheeler, council members, Kay Waldo, Jerry Riffel, Leon Brownfield; and Sandy Berkley. Waldo was eventually elected as the mayor of Kansas City in 1999 with the name Kay Waldo Barnes.
Ray Corey
The Kansas City Star
Former Kansas City Mayor Richard L. “Dick” Berkley died Wednesday at the age of 92. Berkley was the city’s first Jewish mayor and the only Kansas City mayor to be elected to three terms.
Berkley had the heavy task of leading the city’s response to the collapse of the walkways that killed 114 people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in 1981. He saw the importance of preserving the rubble at the scene of the collapse and called for an immediate federal probe into its cause at an emergency session of the City Council on the day after the disaster.
The former mayor’s final term ended in 1991. He drew praise for being a “a real statesman” and a cheerleader for all of Kansas City.
A topic for many who met Berkley was his love for taking photos. Berkley was known for having a camera with him at all times and would take snapshots of the people he met, dignitaries and common citizens alike. He would send photo prints to the subjects of his pictures with personal notes attached.
Here are some of the images photographers from The Kansas City Star made of Mayor Berkley through the years.
Then Mayor-elect Richard L. Berkley, after a grueling campaign, began work early by taking dozens of phone calls and receiving a kiss from his wife, Sandy Berkley, shortly after he was elected in 1979. Fred Blocher The Kansas City Star
Mayor Richard L. Berkley campaigns in a northeast Kansas City supermarket in 1983. Paul Iwanaga The Kansas City Star
Barely taking a moment to savor the sweetness of a hard-fought election victory, Richard Berkley takes a quick peek at his watch over the shoulder of his wife, Sandy Berkley, at his election watch party at the Radisson Muehlbach Hotel in 1979. Berkley defeated Bruce Watkins to become Kansas City’s first Republican mayor in over a half-century. Rick Solberg The Kansas City Star
Mayor Richard L. Berkley, left, relates the outcome of closed meetings to reporters in 1984. Seated, from left; City Manager A.J. Wilson, John Tvedten, chief negotiator for Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and Robert Palmer, secretary-treasurer of the local. Standing in the background are other union members. Fred Blocher The Kansas City Star
Mayor Richard Berkley wiped away a tear during a special meeting of the City Council after he announced the death of John Tvedten Sr., an off-duty fire battalion chief who died in the collapse of the Hyatt Regency skywalks in 1981. File The Kansas City Star
Then Mayor Richard L. Berkley, right, answers questions about the Jacksons Victory Tour 84 at a news conference in 1984. Berkley announced that there would be 500 free tickets for each of the three shows distributed to fans without the means to afford them. File The Kansas City Star
Former Kansas City mayor Richard L. Berkley and his wife Sandy Berkley posed for a photo with then mayor Emanuel Cleaver posed for a photo before ceremonies dedicating a 17-acre stretch along the Missouri River as the Richard L. Berkley Riverfront Park. File The Kansas City Star
Kansas City mayor Sly James (from left) posed with former mayors Kay Barnes, Emanuel Cleaver, Richard L. Berkley and Charles B. Wheeler on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, as they gathered in support of the earnings tax. Keith Myers The Kansas City Star
Former Mayor Richard Berkley takes a photo of Sly James while James was being interviewed at an election watch party for James’ mayoral bid in 2015. Berkley was known for having a camera with him all of the time to take and share photos of the people he met. Jill Toyoshiba The Kansas City Star
This story was originally published November 30, 2023 at 2:05 PM.
