Obituaries

Celebrate and remember the lives of late newspaper colleagues.

Longtime Journal-World leader, GM Ralph Gage, dies

Mar 1, 2022

Ralph Gage, who for decades served as the day-in-day-out leader of Lawrence’s largest media company, has died. Gage, who died of natural causes Jan. 29, 2022, had worked since 1969 for The World ...

Mike Parta leaves a lasting legacy

Mar 1, 2022

Mike Parta died on Jan. 29 at the age of 74 after a long battle with cancer. During the course of his career, he owned the New York Mills Herald, Perham Enterprise-Bulletin, Wadena Pioneer Journal, Staples ...

Rex Rust — finance expert, community leader, athlete — dies at age 52

Mar 1, 2022

Rex Dearmont Rust, co-president of Rust Communications, died the evening of Jan. 6 after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Sammy Franklin, 1940-2022

Mar 1, 2022

Sammy Jones Franklin, 81, of Jena, Louisiana, left this earth for glory on Jan. 28, 2022, at LaSalle General Hospital in Jena following a brief illness. He was the owner, publisher, and editor of The ...

Michael Keever had great passion for newspapers, TV and his family

Feb 1, 2022

Michael Keever, the longtime senior vice president and chief marketing officer of NTVB Media, died Dec. 11 from complications related to COVID-19. He was 55.

Murray Cohen, 1929-2022

Feb 1, 2022

Murray Cohen, 92, of Delphos, Ohio, and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, passed away on Dec. 7, 2021.

Robert Wick, champion of art, newspapers and community, dies at 86

Feb 1, 2022

Robert Wick, who guided Wick Communications for nearly six decades, died Jan 13, 2022. He was 86. Wick’s life was a blending of the simple and the complex — found in his art, public service ...

Thomasson, former editor of Newnan Times-Herald, dies

Feb 1, 2022

Marianne was a force to be reckoned with within the newspaper community and led the The Newnan (Georgia) Times-Herald's newsroom with award-winning precision and a sharp sense of humor.