Henry Gosselin, 83, former MPA president
Henry V. Gosselin, 83, of Harpswell, a former president of the Maine Press Association, died May 2, 2012, at Parkview Medical Adventist Hospital in Brunswick after an acute illness.
He gained a reputation as a crusading journalist as editor and co-owner of the Somerset Reporter of Skowhegan during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first New Englander to be nominated for the national Ira K. Lovejoy Courage in Journalism award.
He was president of the MPA, and in 1968 he was appointed editor of Church World, Maine’s Roman Catholic weekly newspaper. Read the full obituary in the NENPA e-bulletin.
Betty Withee; was ‘the face of the Sentinel’
Betty Withee, who was a reporter and a columnist for the Morning Sentinel of Waterville for more than 35 years, died on March 25, 2012, at a nursing home in Bingham from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. She was 78.
Withee started working for the Morning Sentinel in 1953. She was a photographer, loved court news as a reporter, sold advertising, was a receptionist and, from the mid-1980s until she retired in 1995, wrote a weekly column for the newspaper, called Our Neighbors. “She was the face of the Sentinel,” said Darla Pickett a retired Morning Sentinel reporter. Read the story in the Sentinel.
MPA Hall of Famer ‘Sandy’ Brook
Alexander “Sandy” B. Brook, former owner of the York County Coast Star, died of a heart attack on Jan. 23, 2012, at his home in Damariscotta. He was 89.
Brook, who became a member of the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in 2001, was the owner, editor and operator of the York County Coast Star for two decades, from 1957 until 1977, when he sold the newspaper. Read the story.
Mark Reilly, longtime newspaper printer
Mark Reilly of Waterville, a newspaper printer for much of his life, died Nov. 30, 2011, in Augusta of pancreatic and liver cancer. Reilly worked at newspapers in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Maine.
He was a member of the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park.
Reilly is survived by his siblings Adrian, Vladimir and Erika; his brother-in-law Harv; his cousins Irina and Tim; and his nephews Zane and Kyle. Read more …
Diane O’Connor, Lincoln County columnist
Diane Hilton O’Connor, who wrote the Bremen news column for the Lincoln County News from 1999 to 2003, died Nov. 24, 2011, after short illness with cancer.
O’Connor, who lived in Bremen, was a Colby College graduate and worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 21 years, including 12 years as press officer, and was deputy chief of the news division at the USDA’s Office of Public Affairs for seven years.
She and her husband, Leo, returned to Maine from Washington, D.C., in 1996. In addition to her husband she is survived by her sisters Maru Sue Weeks of Bremen and Cynthia Wass of Rockland and brother William Doane of Fort Meyers, Fla. Read more …
Marie S. Howard, award-winning reporter
Reporter Marie S. Howard, who wrote for several newspapers, died Nov. 18, 2011, at the age of 83.
Howard wrote for the Moosehead Messenger from 1999 to 2003, as well as the Central Maine Morning Sentinel and Eastern Gazette. She won several awards from the New England Press Association and Maine Press Association, including first place for coverage of the 2003 Braeburn Hotel fire in Guilford.
Survivors include her husband, Edwin, of Sangerville and four children.
Kalil “Kal” Ayoob, retired BDN city editor
Kalil Ayoob, 94, husband of the late Eleanor (Bradley) Ayoob, died June 19, 2010, at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia. He was born March 10, 1916, in Framingham, Mass., son of Assad and Sophie (Shakir) Ayoob. Ki was a graduate of Dartmouth College, Class of 1937, and was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Ki was a well-known and well-respected employee of the Bangor Daily News, retiring as a city editor in 1990, after a 53-year career. He was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bangor. Surviving is one son, Randy Ayoob and his wife, Robin, of Elkins Park, Pa. He was grandfather to Michael and Marcie Amerstein; and great-grandfather to Emily and Jackson Amerstein. A graveside service was held on June 24 at Woodlawn Cemetery, Brewer, with the Rev. Canon Mary Ann Taylor, pastoral associate of St. John’s Episcopal Church, officiating. Those who wish to remember Ki in a special way may make gifts in his memory to Bangor Humane Society, 693B Mount Hope Ave., Bangor, ME 04401. A service of Brookings-Smith, Bangor.
“Gene” Townsend, Machias Valley Observer
Eugene M. “Gene” Townsend, the co-publisher of the Machias Valley News Observer, died at a Bangor hospital on Dec. 18, 2009. He was 89.
Gene Townsend was a lifelong resident of Calais and once worked as the sales manager for WQDY in his hometown.
Townsend and his friend, Jay Hinson, purchased the Machias Valley News Observer in 1967 and Townsend also worked as the advertising manager for the weekly for 42 years.
In 2006 their wives, Patricia Townsend and Karen Hinson became partners in the company.
In his early years, Townsend served in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II with tours of duty in England, North Africa and Italy.
While working as a B-17 engineer, his artistic talents were soon discovered and he was enlisted to put the names and art work, known as “nose art,” on many of his squadron aircraft. Several Web sites featuring much of his work have been created by military historians.
Townsend was a past president of the Calais Lions Club, a member of the Frontier Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Baileyville and a life member of Sherman Brothers American Legion Post No. 3 in Calais.
A celebration of his life was held on Dec. 22 at Calais United Methodist Church Condolences and memories may be shared at www.maysfuneralhome.com.
Doug Fletcher, 13-year Sun Journal employee
Doug Fletcher, 62, who worked at the Sun journal for the past 13 years, died of lung cancer on Sept. 1, 2009, at the home of his daughter and her family in Shrewsbury, Mass.
Fletcher started his newspaper career immediately after his 1966 graduation from Leominster High School. While working at the Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel in 1974, Robert F. Drinan – the first U.S. congressman calling for the impeachment of President Nixon based on the bombing of Cambodia – gave him a scoop regarding the upcoming House Judiciary Committee votes on the articles of impeachment. He later became the Sentinel’s assistant city editor.
He served six years as the youngest editor of the Gardner News from 1978 to 1984. He also worked at the Leominster Enterprise, the Haverhill Gazette, and the Middlesex News of Framingham, Mass. until he moved to Maine in 1986.
He soon became editor of the Houlton Pioneer Times and the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville before he found his home for 13 years at the Lewiston Sun Journal in positions from business and news writer to enterprise reporter to copy editor.
He was predeceased by his former wife, Evelyn (Ventresca, Fletcher) Moore, of Ashburnham, Mass., and his stepfather, Earle Boyns.
Bill Kennedy; was Sun Journal photographer
Bill Kennedy, an award-winning photographer with the Sun Journal from 1986-1990, died July 20, 2009, at his home in Media, Ohio. He was 54 and had struggled with sarcoma for several years.
He joined the Fremont (Ohio) News-Messenger in 1980, the Sun Journal in 1986 and The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer in 1990. From 1991 to 2004, he worked at the PD bureau in Medina. He later joined the main office in Cleveland and became features picture editor.
“Bill (Kennedy) was a journalist whose pictures told stories with an artist’s eye for grace and beauty,” said Bill Gugliotta, the PD’s director of photography. “Bill had an innate talent for turning the ordinary into something remarkable.”
Kennedy grew up in Holyoke, Mass. and graduated from Holyoke Community College and the Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in photojournalism.
He is survived by his wife, Megan (McClelland) Kennedy, and his two sons, Patrick Kennedy of Medina and David Kennedy of Cincinnati
