Staff, Wire Reports
Jack Ronald, the former editor and publisher of The Commercial Review in Portland and a member of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, has died at age 73.
Ronald died Saturday, just weeks after being diagnosed with liver cancer. Ronald worked at the newspaper for 46 years, starting in 1974. He was chairman and president of the Graphic Printing Co., which owns the paper, at the time of his death.
While he officially retired from The Commercial Review in July 2020, he continued to write a regular column and assist whenever necessary. Over the years, his columns and editorials won numerous first-place awards from the Inland Daily Press Association and the Hoosier State Press Association. Following his retirement, Jack worked as an English-language copyeditor for The Irrawaddy, a Burmese news outlet.
He was an advocate of press freedom both at home and in the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe and Central and Southeast Asia. He was selected as a Fulbright Specialist and assigned to Moldova in 1998. He, his wife and daughter Sara lived in Chisinau, Moldova, for six months, where he taught at the State University of Moldova and worked with the Independent Journalism Center, consulting for editors and publishers of regional newspapers as they pursued independence from government and political parties.
His advocacy for independent newspapers in former Soviet nations resulted in one nation placing him on a blacklist as “persona non grata,” which got him deported on arrival on one occasion.
Ronald had leadership roles over the years at the Jay County Arts Council, the Jay County AIDS Task Force, The Portland Foundation and Portland Area Chamber of Commerce.
In between The Commercial Review, his journalism advocacy and his community involvement, Jack found time to write and publish poetry, draw, take photographs and write fiction. Ronald often shared his poetry and fiction at public events hosted by the Wells County Creative Arts Council.
A celebration of Jack’s life will be held in June at Arts Place in Portland at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ronald Family Endowment at the Portland Foundation, 107 S. Meridian St, Portland, IN 47371.
