Donn F. Gaynor news obit

Newsman Donn F. Gaynor dies of lung cancer at age 78

Retired journalist known for putting together accurate, well-written articles

By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer

Colleagues describe retired Akron Beacon Journal copy editor and reporter Donn F. Gaynor as soft-spoken and easygoing, but a great newspaperman.

``He was a journeyman's journeyman in the business. We won't see his caliber again,'' said copy editor Charles Montague, who worked by Mr. Gaynor's side. ``His work was well-written and well-researched and he always managed to put things in perspective for the reader.''

Mr. Gaynor died Wednesday of lung cancer. He was 78.

Born in Indianapolis, he loved the outdoors and taking day trips. His family said he would often throw his fishing gear into the car and venture out from his Firestone Park home.

Mr. Gaynor was known for putting together accurate and well-written articles in a short time.

Montague still remembers one of Mr. Gaynor's best lead paragraphs because it was concise and to the point: ``The car went three miles the wrong way on the East Expressway before the inevitable happened.''

Ironically, Mr. Gaynor was at work the day a similar story would be written about his own family.

In April 1974, Mr. Gaynor received a call from his wife telling him his 2-year-old granddaughter had fallen, so she and their daughter were taking the child to the doctor.

Then 1 ½ hours later, he received another call telling him there had been a car accident and he needed to go to Barberton Citizens Hospital. He recalled what happened next to a reporter: ``She was dead -- they were all dead when I got there.''

The crash claimed his wife, Paula, his oldest daughter, Patricia Wines, and his granddaughter, Cynthia. Mrs. Gaynor apparently lost control of her car and swerved into the path of a truck.

The accident that claimed three generations of family members was less than two miles from their home.

``It was devastating for all of us, and despite his personal suffering, Dad pulled us all through it,'' said daughter Pam Ruff of Norton. ``He was never the same after the accident. He remained faithful to Mom. He never dated and he never took off his wedding ring.''

Ruff said her father was a lovable, caring person.

``He cared for everyone else, but never wanted anyone to fuss over him,'' she said.

On July 9, 2001, he lost his only son, Donn Michael, when he suffered an apparent heart attack while riding a motorcycle.

He is survived by two daughters.

A self-taught newsman, Mr. Gaynor attended Butler University in Indianapolis.

He worked for the Mansfield News Journal for 10 years before joining the Akron Beacon Journal in 1966. He was a reporter, assistant city editor, city editor then copy editor until retiring in 1993.

An aviation buff, he was in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947, then worked for Lake Central Airlines and Chicago and Southern Airlines as a baggage handler and operations agent.

``We used to go out to the Akron Fulton Airport and watch the small planes take off and land,'' Ruff said. ``He also taught us all how to drive, grandchildren, too, in the airport parking lot there.''

He started out as a police and fire reporter at the Mansfield newspaper.

``He used to listen to the police scanner and hop in the car and take us with him while he chased down the story or followed fire trucks,'' Ruff said.

As a copy editor, he still listened to his police scanner and would call the news desk to report breaking news.

He was also known to crack jokes and his humor often showed through the headlines he wrote. He used to joke about how he always had to defend his double-N Donn, saying it was his only distinction.

When he learned the late Donn F. Eisele was appointed an astronaut in 1968, Mr. Gaynor wrote a piece for the newspaper.

``Being a double-N Donn is a darn nuisance,'' he wrote. ``I see that Gov. Jim Rhodes welcomed you to your hometown, Columbus, after your record-setting flight in Apollo 7, with a letter addressed to Don (one-N-only). I know how it hurts.''

He wrote that he was named with two N's either because he was born during a tornado or the result of a breeze that shook his mother's hand when she signed the birth certificate.

``Later, when I noticed that I wasn't like the other kids, namewise, I asked Mom, `How come I got two N's in my name?' '' the story went on. ``She told me she read it on the side of a boxcar in a passing freight train.

``She never offered any other explanation. I didn't, until that time, even know that Mother read boxcars. You should read my mail. Usually it is addressed to Don or Donald, seldom Donn.

``I have gotten mail addressed to Dawn, Down, Dinn, Dunn and, on at least two occasions, Damn Gaynor -- of course, those two might have been intentional.''

Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or 800-777-7232 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com

Gaynor Services

Calling hours for Donn F. Gaynor will be 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Newcomer Funeral Home, 131 N. Canton Road, Akron. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, with burial in Greenlawn Cemetery. The family suggests donations be made to the American Cancer Society.

[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Friday, July 8, 2005, page B6, col. 3]