John D. Baldridge 1914-2000

BALDRIDGE, MORTIMORE, BROWN, HARRIS

Posted By: MPT (email)
Date: 1/23/2006 at 15:29:20

The Des Moines Register
Thursday, May 18, 2000

John D. Baldridge, 86, a prominent Chariton newspaper editor and publisher and a former member of the Iowa Board of Regents, died of a heart ailment, Tuesday, May 16, 2000 at home. The body was cremated, and private family memorial services conducted. Burial of the cremains were at the Chariton Cemetery.

Mr. Baldridge, a native of Bloomfield, had lived briefly in New York City and Albia before moving to Chariton in 1938. He and his wife spent a portion of each year in Manzanillo, Mexico.

He had worked briefly for the New York Herald-Tribune before returning to Iowa to join the staffs of his family's weekly newspapers in Albia and Chariton. He was the longtime publisher of the Chariton Leader and Chariton Herald-Patriot. He also had headed the corporations that owned newspapers in Albia, Bloomfield, Chariton, Fort Collins, CO., and Cheyenne, WY in 1971, he was named a "Master Editor-Publisher" by the Iowa Newspaper Association, of which he also had been president.

Mr. Baldridge was an active civic leader for much of his life. He served on the Board of Regents, was chairman of the board of directors of Iowa Public Television, was a trustee of what was then known as the Univerisity of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines and had been president of Iowa Good Roads Association. He also served on the regional library board, had been chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Central Committee and was a delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention. He was president of the Chariton Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Chariton Rotary Club and a member of the school board in Chariton. During World War II, he served in the Navy, and in 1949, he was sent to South Korea as a U.S. Foreign Service reserve officer.

He is survived by his wife, Jacque; a daughter, Nancy Mortimore of Cedar Rapids; a step-daughter, Joni Brown of Des Moines; a stepson, Mark Harris of Des Moines; six grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Fielding Funeral Home in Chariton handled the arrangement.