The Pacificaires

The Pacificaires are the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 1969 Far Western District Champions. They first formed in 1966 and won the FWD championship in 1969. The original group consisted of Mike Hemphill on tenor, Rudy Wissler on lead, Fred Drenge on baritone, and Al Huebner on bass. Bill Fritz replaced Al in 1968 and he passed away soon after. They placed 8th in their first international contest in 1969 and won the 1969 fall Far Western District Contest. They rose to third place bronze medalists in 1970. They placed 4th in the 1971 and they earned their first second place silver medal in 1972. In early 1973, Mike had to take a leave of absence from the quartet and he was replaced Al Mau, tenor of the Western Continentals. They placed second again in 1973 and released their one and only LP that same year entitled, “A Good Day.” They placed second for a third time in 1974. Following that contest, they stopped competing and decided to retire from the show circuit in 1975. In October of 1980, the Pacificaires reunited on the Napa Chapter Show with Mike Hemphill back in the tenor slot. This would be the final performance of the original Pacificaires as Fred Dregne died in 1988. They sang their last show to date in the early 1990’s with Chuck Brooks, lead of the Colonials, filling in on baritone. There is a CD of these two shows. Today only Mike Hemphill and Al Mau survive. Bill Fritz died in 1996 and Rudy Wissler died in 2007.