Longtime Chronicle publisher Don Somerville (second from left in back row) will always be remembered as a business man with integrity.
When Don Somerville died on Nov. 18 at the age of 88, a floodgate of memories opened up and the deluge swept many people away.
The well-respected icon who shaped the Oliver community and the newspaper industry is gone. But he will always be remembered.
Who would have thought that Don would ever say, “It is time to hang up my typewriter?”
Oliver Chronicle readers read those exact words in 1986 when he sold the paper to Michael Newman after 27 years as publisher. But knowing Don, he’s probably still pounding on that typewriter somewhere, eagerly reporting the news or getting his opinion across on an important topic.
Don and his wife Audrye and family “immigrated” to Oliver from the big city during the scorching summer of 1959.
The young newspaperman was full of hope and dreams that he could build a broken down weekly newspaper into something more prosperous. But he was scared as hell at the thought of not making it. However, the community wasn’t going to let that happen.
The early years were difficult. Don sold the ads, attended endless meetings, wrote the stories, and took the photographs while Richard Schaffrick pounded away at the linotype and did a million other things.
Eventually, Don could tell he was doing okay when his banker became much more respectful. Funny how that happens.
Don always praised his loyal employees for putting out a great paper every week. So now it’s time for them to say a few words about their beloved boss.
To former Chronicle news editor Frank Stariha, Don was a friend and mentor.
“I can still remember my first day of work at the Chronicle. Don, a consummate newspaperman, had journalism in his veins. He sat me down, and in that first day I learned more about journalism than I had learned in all my years before.”
Lesson one was “KISS” (keep it simple, stupid). And keep it short, Don told him.
Lesson two was keep your personal opinions out of the news.
Stariha said Don was the most ethical journalist he had ever known. “He practiced what he preached.”
He noted that Don had the rare knack of being able to disagree with someone, but did it in such a way that kept their respect.
Stariha said one of his favourite stories about Don was the fact he published his own name in the police news after being charged with a driving infraction.
“Mind you, I understand that members of his family may not have received their copies of the Chronicle that week.”
Stariha said Don gave his staff all the responsibility and free rein that they could handle.
“I think I would have run through a brick wall for Don in those days, had I been asked. We all would have.”
The editor will never forget two newspaper highlights that were a source of pride for Don and his team. The first was a national award the Chronicle won for its coverage of the crash-filled Western Warbirds weekend. The second was the Chronicle’s Diamond Jubilee edition (May 1981) that took the better part of a year to put together.
Reporter/columnist Sue Morhun worked for the Oliver Chronicle for nearly a decade and remembers Don as a well-respected business man.
“Don had clearly articulated values and was a real leader in the community.”
She said the newspaper was more than just a business to him. “It was a service to the community that he loved.”
Morhun said the Chronicle consisted of a tight-knit team and everyone pitched in to get the job done in delivering the news.
Morhun noted that Somerville had a way of rewarding people for good work.
She remembers the first Christmas party she attended at the Chronicle.
“We were gathered in the back, and as I left he gave me a big hug and a huge bouquet of chrysanthemums. My own husband didn’t even give me flowers.”
Longtime employee Richard Schaffrick said Don was a person of integrity, who only had a “small list of enemies,” as he would put it. But it was usually more a case of misunderstanding.
Schaffrick was most impressed by Don’s editorials, which were well thought out by stating a problem and offering several solutions to it.
“Don inspired his employees by pushing himself pretty hard,” said Schaffrick, who referred to deadlines as a “recurring plague.”
The work was hard and hot before air-conditioning was introduced, Schaffrick recalled.
“Once I whined to Don that there was too much to do with type-setting for the newspaper and the print shop. His reply was, with a bit of a smirk, ‘Well, I didn’t hire you as a pet.’”
By Lyonel Doherty
