Fran Hollendonner.
Parkersburg News and Sentinel

From the Parkersburg News and Sentinel posted: July 30, 2008 by Paul LaPann...

PARKERSBURG - Francis R. Hollendonner, a leader in the Parkersburg community for many years, a former publisher with The Ogden Newspapers and a mentor to journalists, died Tuesday morning at St. Joseph's Hospital of congestive heart failure. Hollendonner, 81, of Parkersburg had been in St. Joseph's for more than three weeks, said his wife, Carolyn.Z

Mrs. Hollendonner said there would be no visitation or funeral service for her husband. Cremation is being handled by Lambert-Tatman Funeral Home, Green Street in Parkersburg. Charitable donations in Hollendonner's memory can be made to the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation or the Parkersburg Rotary Club's Sour Mash Golf Tournament.

"Fran was a great publisher and a truly fine human being," said Robert Nutting, president and CEO of The Ogden Newspapers. "He was a leader in our company and a personal mentor, someone I could always turn to for wise counsel, long after he retired as publisher of the News and Sentinel.

"His advice was always steady and solid, reasoned and balanced. Whether he was addressing an issue that affected Parkersburg or the state of West Virginia, he always had the best interest of the entire community in his heart," Nutting said. "He approached every task, from publishing the News and Sentinel, to consulting with our other newspapers, with the same seriousness and energy. Fran is already greatly missed by everyone who was fortunate enough to work with him."

A native of Jeannette, Pa., Hollendonner became publisher of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel in 1975 and retired as publisher on March 1, 1992. After retiring he continued to serve as a consultant for The Ogden Newspapers for a few years, his wife said.

George Kellenberger, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley, said Hollendonner, as a member of the board of directors, was supportive of the chamber's efforts. "I respected his judgment on issues affecting the board," he said.

"Fran also was very, very supportive of the community," Kellenberger said. "He was a gracious leader who kept a low profile."

Kellenberger remembered Hollendonner as a person of impeccable integrity.

The Rev. Jack Neilson of Parkersburg knew Hollendonner for 30 years through the business community and both served together on the Parkersburg Rotary Club Board of Governors. Hollendonner was a past president of the Rotary Club.

"Fran was a highly honorable person," Neilson said. "He would never compromise what the newspaper was doing or his opinion on what was right and wrong."

Neilson said Hollendonner was a leader in the community and a "great guy." "He will be deeply missed."

Two former Parkersburg newspaper editors who served under Hollendonner remember him as being an excellent newspaperman and mentor.

Charles Jarvis, regional publisher for The Ogden Newspapers in Warren, Ohio, was editor of The Parkersburg News from 1990-92. "Fran was a real good role model for people in the newspaper business," Jarvis said. "He knew all facets of the newspaper business. He was respected as a student of the business. His intent was to be fair in the reporting of news. I learned a lot from him."

Jarvis remembered Hollendonner as being a great proponent of economic development and the arts in Parkersburg. Hollendonner, a native of Western Pennsylvania who also worked in Upstate New York, adopted Parkersburg as his hometown and stayed here, living for many years in North Hills, during retirement, Jarvis said.

Bob DeFrancis worked with Hollendonner when Hollendonner was editor of The Intelligencer in Wheeling. DeFrancis later came to Parkersburg as editor of The News in the early 1980s, when Hollendonner was publisher.

"Fran was the consummate journalist. He had his finger on the pulse of the community and knew how things (city and county government) should be covered and what was important to the community," said DeFrancis, dean of community relations at West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling. "He gave me my big chance when I came to Parkersburg."

Mrs. Hollendonner noted that her husband was involved in Artsbridge and the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation.

Bob Stephens, president of The Bernard McDonough Foundation in Parkersburg, said Hollendonner had a "special interest in the community" and was willing to give back to the community.

Playing golf, rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, working crossword puzzles and watching sports on television were some of Hollendonner's other interests, said his wife.

While at St. Joseph's Hospital these past few weeks, Hollendonner had Carolyn read the Parkersburg newspapers to him.

Hollendonner became publisher of the Parkersburg newspapers in 1975 after serving as editor of The Intelligencer in Wheeling. He previously was the editor of newspapers in Beaver County, Pa., and Schenectady, N.Y.

Hollendonner was a former secretary-treasurer of West Virginia Press Association and was a member of the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.

He previously was a member of the board and treasurer of the West Virginia Press Association, a president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors and a member of the New York State Society of Newspaper Editors.

Hollendonner was a past member of Elks Lodge 198 and the Parkersburg Country Club.

He previously served on the boards of directors of Artsbridge, the Greater Parkersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and its Business and Education Foundation, the Area Roundtable, the Parkersburg/Wood County Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Blennerhasset Historical Park Foundation, the Mid-Ohio Valley United Fund and the Mid-Ohio Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Hollendonner began his newspaper career as a reporter on Jeannette's daily newspaper, where his mother, Marion Hollendonner, was managing editor. He attended Jeannette High School, Kiskiminetas Prep School in Saltsburg, Pa., and Princeton University. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.

Hollendonner was named recipient of the Adam R. Kelly Award for outstanding service to the newspaper industry at the annual West Virginia Press Association convention in 2001. The award is named for the late legendary "country editor" and nationally renowned columnist whose pieces at Christmas, Memorial Day and other special events are reprinted in newspapers across the nation.

Besides his wife, Hollendonner is survived by son Reed and wife Arlene of Carbondale, Pa., daughter Susan H. Stewart and husband Bill of Lexington, Ky., two grandchildren, three step-grandchildren and one great-step-grandchild.