By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When Lee J. Hornback began directing the Paul Dixon Show on WCPO-TV in 1950, the program had one black-and-white camera with a 35-millimeter lens.

Throughout the years, as television technology advanced, he was one of the first to embrace the changes, earning the well-deserved reputation as a television pioneer.

When WLWT-TV and RCA developed a tube that could capture enough light for nighttime broadcasts, the invention led him to become the first producer and director of a nighttime Major League Baseball game, broadcast May 16, 1960. (Reds 9, Giants 2).

Mr. Hornback died Friday at VistaCare Hospice in Anderson Township of chronic pulmonary disease. The longtime Anderson Township resident was 74.

"He loved the excitement of doing live TV," said his daughter, Mimi Ruttle of Anderson Township. "He liked the quick thinking, the decision making. ... He was always embracing the latest in technology."

Mr. Hornback was still a senior at Xavier University when he started working as a sketch writer and news announcer for the WCPO-TV program, Xavier Presents.

After finishing a bachelor's degree in education from Xavier in 1950, he began directing the Paul Dixon Show. He was named producer of the two-hour live broadcast show - which aired on ABC and DuMont television networks - a year later.

In 1952, he took a position at WLWT-TV, where over the course of about 38 years he held a variety of jobs from director and producer, to cameraman, to community relations director.

He left the station briefly to serve during the Korean War. He was an Army public information officer and ran several armed services radio stations in Japan.

He resumed his job with WLWT in 1955, eventually directing and producing shows including Situation Job Wanted, which featured people looking for jobs; Your Zoo, Attic Inc., Captain Glenn's Bandwagon, Uncle Al, and the Penny Pruden Show.

His show Midwestern Hayride ran on the NBC and ABC television networks, and the news show Three City Final was fed to Dayton and Columbus. He also served as the studio director for the Cincinnati Reds.

As a news photographer, he covered events including the Beverly Hills fire, and interviewed survivors, firefighters and others at the scene.

He was named director of special broadcast services of WLW Radio and Television in 1957.

In 1959, Mr. Hornback was honored with the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting for a radio piece he produced and directed called "Government Under Law." He received a letter of commendation from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for his work.

Raised in the Pleasant Ridge/Kennedy Heights area, Mr. Hornback graduated from Fort Union Military Academy in Fort Union, Va.

He attended the University of Cincinnati, where he played for the Bearcat football team in a year they went to the Sun Bowl. Then he moved to Xavier, playing on the Musketeers football team in a year they went to the Salad Bowl.

Mr. Hornback later returned to Xavier University to earn a master's in business administration.

He retired from WLWT in 1991.

Mr. Hornback also worked with a Cincinnati historical foundation, preserving tapes, scripts, and films from Cincinnati's early years in broadcasting. From 1979-81, he was executive director of the Anderson Township Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the board, or was a committee member, of the Cincinnati Zoo, World Affairs Institute, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Red Cross.

Along with his daughter, Mimi Ruttle, survivors include his wife of 49 years, Jeanne F. Hornback; two other daughters, Beth Wheeler of Anderson Township and Barbara Wright of Knoxville, Tenn.; a son, Mike of Port Orange, Fla.; and seven grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Rose Church, 2501 Eastern Ave., East End. Mass of Christian burial will follow immediately at the church.

Burial will be in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Montgomery.

Memorials: VistaCare Hospice, 8135 Beechmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45255, or to the Ruth Lyons Children's Fund, P.O. Box 59, Cincinnati, OH 45201 .

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com