Former Leader-Telegram president/CEO Graaskamp dies at 66

Aug 1, 2025

Former Wisconsin Newspaper Association president Pieter “Peter” F. Graaskamp, age 66, of Eau Claire, passed away Wednesday, July 23, 2025, surrounded by his family at home while under hospice care.

According to a story that appeared in the July 25, 2025, issue of the Leader-Telegram, he led a full life.

He was the last president and CEO of the Leader-Telegram from the Graaskamp family. They and the Atkinson family were critical to the paper’s course during the 20th century. Their ancestors forged the Eau Claire Leader and the Daily Telegram into a single company and, in 1970, merged them into a single publication. They stayed in charge until 2018.

The family’s influence went far beyond the Chippewa Valley. Pieter was the son of Charles Graaskamp, a journalism legend in Wisconsin who, in 2014, was posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Hall of Fame.

Graaskamp graduated from Ripon College with a bachelor’s degree in 1981 and received an MBA at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1984. Four years later, he stepped in as circulation manager for Country Today and then took over as the paper’s general manager in 1996. He became president of the Eau Claire Press Company in 2003, a position he held until it was sold. In all, he dedicated more than 29 years to journalism at the papers.

He served as the president of the L.E. Phillips Senior Center’s board, and remained listed as a member by virtue of being a past president. Graaskamp was also the president of the Chippewa Valley Museum board.

Graaskamp served as president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association in 2011 — 14 years after his father held the same position.

Graaskamp was from the fourth and final generation of his family at the helm of the Eau Claire Press Company. His statement from 2017, when the company’s sale was announced, was dignified. But you can still hear the emotional toll the words took:

“After 130 years of family ownership, selling the Eau Claire Press Co. was not an easy decision for the Graaskamp and Atkinson families. However, at a board strategic planning session, we discussed the long-term viability of an independently owned family media company. We came to the difficult decision nearly a year ago that selling was the best option for our employees and the communities we serve.”

An editorial, which was also published in the July 23 issue, showed appreciation for Graaskamp’s stewardship:

“This is the end of an era for Eau Claire, particularly here at the Leader-Telegram. Yes, we know things change. That’s inevitable. But sometimes the change comes too soon. And with Graaskamp’s death at only 66, this is one of those times.”

A Christian Burial Mass took place on Aug. 1, 2025, at St. Raymond of Penafort Catholic Church. Interment was in the Holy Guardian Angels Cemetery immediately following mass. Visitation was Thursday, July 31, 2025, from 3-7 p.m. at Hulke Family Funeral Home in Eau Claire.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in Pieter’s name to any of the following: L.E. Phillips Senior Center, Chippewa Valley Museum, Cleghorn Lions Club or the Red Cross.

Friends and family may offer condolences online at www.hulkefamilyfh.com.