Retired editor in Washington state, no 'former journalist,' meets his final deadline

One day, The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash., across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore., published a column that former editor Tom Koenninger wrote would be his last. The next day, Sept. 30, he died, at 78. “Tom’s value to The Columbian and this community is really immeasurable,” Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio said. “He was a brass-knuckle supporter of the importance of a daily newspaper and how a great daily newspaper can make a community better.”

Koenninger, left, served on various educational, historical and civic committees and boards while working at the newspaper, and “A lot of people thought that as a newsman, he shouldn’t be involved,” Marilyn Koenninger told Columbian reporter Tom Vogt in her husband’s hospice room. Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell told him, “Tom was very passionate about his community and about The Columbian and its role in the community. He was very engaged in serving on boards and community nonprofits, and saw this as one way to better the community and network with community leaders at the same time.”

Koenninger's final column was about his upbringing in the rural commuinity of Sara, 11 miles north of Vancouver, which he said had a great community spirit. "I wish this 'Sara spirit' legacy could return as a dominant value," he wrote. "I feel distressed at the snarling, angry letters to the editors of The Columbian, as well as in blogs. We live in a place of beauty almost unmatched in this world. Our civility should be equal to our livability. . . . Farm life is good for developing sound values. It nourishes the mind and the body. 'Sara spirit' would go a long way to provide that nourishment for this community. After 57 years of news writing, this is my final column for The Columbian, due to declining health. I hope these words convey the values and high standards that this beautiful place can embrace." (Read more)

And thus ended Tom Koenninger's career. He "never considered himself a former journalist, Marilyn Koenninger said shortly before his death," Vogt reported, quoting her in the hospice room: "He still has a press card. You never know when you come across a story." (Read more)