JERRY STAPLETON, RITA'S BROTHER, PASSES AWAY IN FLORIDA

 

Rita Fay Stapleton, who worked in nearly every department during her 42 years at the BJ, filed this sad news:

 

“My only brother, Jerry Stapleton passed away Wed. Dec. 14. He was raised in Randolph, graduated and played football for Akron U, became a 1^st Lieutenant in the Army during the Vietnam years, became a State Farm Agent in Solon.

 

“He and his wife Patty moved to (Valrico) Florida after he retired. His son, Shannon, called me from the Ukraine and notified me of his passing. He was on assignment there as a photojournalist with Reuter News Agency.

 

“He was a very good husband, father, grandpa and brother. We will miss him greatly.

 

“Jerry and (newsroom editor) Sandy Levenson both had esophageal cancer around the same time. Sandy’s wife and my sister-in-law connected. They both had the same doctor.

 

“Jerry later had prostate cancer and he withered away to 123 lbs. He is no longer struggling.

 

“Rita was a fixture in Composing for almost half a century. She recalls: “I spent 42 years there. It felt like my second home.”

 

Rita retired in 2011 on the same day as David Cummings. Both had been at the BJ for 42 years!

In retirement Rita “helped with the USO of North Canton, visited my 88-year-old dad more often, played tennis and in general just having a good ol’ time.”

Rita started out as a typesetter in November 1968, did paste-up, proofreading, worked the computer room, Camex operator, worked in CTS in graphics arts, then data entry, then worked in call center typing and was switched to operating the tearsheet room for a few years before it got phased out.

Went from there temporarily to finance before ending up in Marketing and helped with Newspaper in Education and anywhere else when needed. Ended up in the packaging department before finally retiring.

It was a fun time working with all the printers. Enjoyed all the excitement of helping put the paper to bed on night shift and all the comradeship of the men, never a dull moment.

She concluded: “It was a blessing to have worked for such a fine newspaper, especially when times were great.”

Mandy Gillis said of Jerry: “He was a good guy! Watched out for the neighborhood kids” in Randolph, where Mandy grew up before winding up in Tallmadge, where I live, too, after four decades in Cuyahoga Falls during my 26 years at my beloved BJ.