Record Store Original Spread Music to Webster Groves, Beyond

Dorothy Gleason, 80, formerly of Webster Groves, died last Friday from lung disease. A staple in the local music community, she ran with her husband, Roy Gleason, since the late 1940s, first at East Lockwood Avenue and Big Bend Boulevard, and then for 35 years at 124 W. Lockwood. The two stayed on part-time after the store changed ownership and moved across the street.

For years, Webster Records was an all purpose music store that sold 45-rpm records for 99-cents with a large rock and Motown section, however the store was best known for its selection of classical and jazz.

Dorothy and Roy also were known nationally for selling square dance and school physical education records. They sold the records for 25 years before eliminating the genres, in addition to rock, from the store's catalogue by the mid-1970s, according to former employee John Hoffman who worked at the store when he was in high school and in between jobs as a disc jockey at area radio stations.

"It was not unusual to have an RV pull up on a Friday night and have a man wearing cowboy boots and a string tie and a woman in a skirt with petticoats walk into the shop, after detouring from the cross country trip, to see the shop as they had been buying square dance records for years from (the store) by mail," Hoffman said.

Dorothy is remembered as being outgoing and welcoming. Her daughter, Tina Mancin, recalled how Dorothy used to cook big meals for visitors and regulars of the shop.

The little record store drew people to Webster Groves from the entire metropolitan area and the region. Musicians, national record promoters, radio station disc jockeys and club owners were regulars in the shop.

Hoffman remembered an instance in the early 1970s that serves as testament to the store's popularity and reach in the area.

"Once in the early 1970s, Jack Carney at  KMOX, who had the highest local ratings in the country (a 40 share) opened his show after Thanksgiving playing a couple selections from the Singers Unlimited Christmas album, which was on a German record label," Hoffman said. "Jack mentioned the record was available at Webster Records. Within 90 minutes all 25 albums purchased for the entire Christmas season had been sold."

Dorothy was the mother of Tina Mancin, Michael Mancin and the late Carol Schmidt; grandmother of Teri, Jennifer, Craig, Chad, Kyle, Alex and the late Gary; great-grandmother, cousin, aunt and sister. She was preceded in death by her husband Roy on Sept. 3, 1992.

A memorial gathering will be held Saturday, April 16, from 2-4 p.m., followed by a memorial service at 4 p.m., at Gerber Chapel, 23 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves.