Terry Oblander's obituary in the BJ

By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
MEDINA: Terry Oblander was a storyteller.

When the downtown Akron O’Neil’s store held a final sale before it closed forever in January 1989, the Beacon Journal’s Terry Oblander described the event this way. “Remember when your great aunt died and after the funeral all your greedy relatives showed up at her place to divvy up the quilts, antique plates and photo albums? In a way, the funeral for the downtown Akron store has already been held. … The elegance has died.”

Mr. Oblander, 64, of Medina, whose newspaper career included coverage of the Kent State shootings in May 1970 for the Record-Courier in Ravenna, died Sunday at the Cleveland Clinic of congestive heart failure following a heart attack.

Mr. Oblander worked two years for the Ravenna paper and nearly 20 years for the Beacon Journal, where he covered a variety of topics including Portage County news, labor issues and county government. He left Akron to work another 18 years for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“He knew how to get at what everybody wanted to know,” said his son Terry Oblander, of Medina. “He captured the essence. He was as good of a storyteller as a writer. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He could make light of any serious situation.”

His son said his father had taken on a new role as grandfather and spent much time baby-sitting his two grandsons.

Mr. Oblander, who received an associate’s degree from Cuyahoga Community College and attended Kent State University, was part of the Beacon Journal staff that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Goodyear takeover attempt by Sir James Goldsmith.

Along with being a writer and storyteller, Mr. Oblander was a puzzle maker. He was the author of the puzzle Groaners that appeared in the Beacon Journal for many years and the Public Square puzzle in the Plain Dealer, his son said.

“You were fun to sit next to at the BJ, fun to compete against when you went to the PD, fun to argue labor issues with and fun to share a drink with and have lunch,” wrote retired Beacon Journal reporter and editor Charlene Nevada, on Mr. Oblander’s Facebook page. “Your laughter will be forever missed.”

Thrity Umrigar, a novelist, Case Western Reserve University professor of English and former Beacon Journal reporter, said Mr. Oblander encouraged her to save for her retirement when she first started working at the Beacon Journal when she was just in her 20s.

“What I most remember about Terry was that smile,” she said. “It was always there, along with the twinkle in his eye. He was full of mischief, almost spritelike in his sense of play and fun.”

Former Plain Dealer reporter Steve Luttner described Mr. Oblander as “a pure, battle-tested newsman who had accumulated tremendous context about Northeast Ohio from numerous perspectives.”

Luttner, now vice president of Lesic & Camper Communications in Cleveland, said Mr. Oblander always helped young reporters and “never lost his enthusiasm for a good story, and he had a deep, refreshing respect for good grammar and proper word usage.

“Terry was perhaps the most principled person I ever worked with during 30 years I spent in newsrooms,” he added. “He was highly ethical, totally honest and unflinchingly direct. I loved that directness – there wasn’t a phony bone in Terry’s body. He was a devoted and proud family man — his three sons had an extraordinary father.”

Mr. Oblander was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary, and is survived by wife, Linda, sons, Terry (Maureen) and their son, Jake, of Medina; son Chris (Caitlin) and their son, Josh, of Middleburg Heights; and son Nick of Medina.

Donations can be made in his name to Project: LEARN of Medina County at 105 W. Liberty St., Medina, 44256 where Mr. Oblander volunteered.

Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Waite & Son Funeral Home at 765 N. Court St., Medina. Funeral service will be at the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. Friday.Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or at jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
[Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Tuesday, November 15, 2011, page B#, col.1]

Photos added courtesy of Paul Tople.