His son, Dick, was the second publisher and continued to write a weekly column for many years after his departure.
For years, the paper was essentially a shopper with columns from its publisher, but not much other original editorial content.
In the mid-1990s, Murphy McGinnis Media purchased the paper and transformed it into the Budgeteer, with the slogan: "Good News for Great People Like You."
Despite positive community reaction, revenue could not support the expanded staff or the mid-week edition.
The Budgeteer went back to once a week, cut staff and - in its most dramatic change - went from a traditional broadsheet to a tabloid-format newspaper.