Remembering Community Leader, Editor, Friend Doris Weber

 We were all saddened by the loss of a good friend and strong community supporter on April 18.  Doris Weber passed away at 7:15 a.m. that day at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Rochester, Minnesota.

When I think of Doris Weber, three distinct words come to mind—NEWSPAPER, COMMUNITY and FRIEND.   I remember her as a woman always on-the-go.  Working at the newspaper and having a deadline, she always used her time wisely to get whatever she was doing accomplished.  She was a classy businesswoman who was concerned about fair and honest journalism.  She was always present at most community happenings, not just because she was covering it for the paper, but because she cared about the community and the people in it.  If she had an idea, she would run with it and many times it would come to fruition in a grand way.

Newspaper

Doris worked at the Springfield Advance-Press for almost sixty-two years, retiring in October 2019.  Besides her family and friends, the Advance-Press was Doris’ life.  In January 1958, she began work as the “society editor” and bookkeeper for Publisher Wally Erickson.  “I began working at the front desk in the office as receptionist, bookkeeper and society reporter.  As society reporter, my job was to gather all sorts of social news.  Weekly, I telephoned dozens and dozens of people for social news—family gatherings, club news, card parties, birthdays, anniversary celebrations, graduations, bridal showers, weddings, births, baptisms, trips, vacations, etc.  I got to know the families in town and their extended families.  Through those “locals” I learned about relationships of families, friendships, and countless bits of not-so-important information, too,” she said in a 2008 article for her fiftieth anniversary in community journalism.

See complete story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.