Leroy Wylie Stauffer, former owner of the Fulton Sun, died Nov. 22 at home in Danville, Pennsylvania. He was 91.
Stauffer's journalism career spanned 55 years. He saw community journalism evolve from something people received on their front stoop every afternoon to a news cycle available 24/7.
He owned the Fulton Sun from 1994-98 before selling it to Betty Weldon, who later sold it to WEHCO and Central Missouri Newspapers.
Stauffer was born Aug. 5, 1927, in Beaver, Pennsylvania. In 1945, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was stationed in San Diego, California, training for the invasion of Japan when World War II ended.
After returning home from his military service, Stauffer was searching for a career path and a neighborhood friend suggested he go to radio school at KDKA in Pittsburgh. This led to his lifelong passion of buying, starting, owning and operating community newspapers and radio stations.
It was at WCPA radio station in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where he met his wife, Patricia Rhoads. They were married 69 years and she survives him.
Throughout his years as an owner/operator of community news outlets, Stauffer worked to provide good jobs and working conditions for his employees and to improve the communities they served.
Stauffer also owned five other newspapers, running them with a son and daughter during the 1990s as the internet changed the landscape of the industry.
Besides his wife, Stauffer is survived by son Michael (Dolly) Lee, of Danville; daughter Cynthia Louise, of Hillsborough, North Carolina; daughter Neela (Zarook) Marikkar, of Colombo, Sri Lanka; and daughter Pamela (Ed) Stauffer Christine, of Orangeville; five grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, and more. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Douglas F. Stauffer, and a sister, Jane Ann Hales.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Stauffer Family Fund c/o the Danville Area Community Foundation, 725 W. Front St., Berwick Pennsylvania 18603, where they will continue to generously support the community he loved.