FORMER MISSOURIAN PUBLISHER DEAD AT 76

Harry Arnold Naeter Jr., whose uncles founded the Southeast Missourian and who worked in every department of the newspaper from printers' devil to publisher, died early Wednesday, Feb. 16, 1994, at his home, Boulder Crest. He was 76.

Naeter had been in Southeast Missouri Hospital last week where it was found he had suffered damage to his heart. He had been released and was at his home when he died unexpectedly.

The funeral will be conducted at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel by the Rev. Neil Stein, pastor of Centenary Methodist Church, at 10 a.m. on Friday. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, with graveside rites by VFW Post 3838.

Naeter, who was born on June 9, 1917, in Cape Girardeau, grew up with printers' ink on his hands from the newspaper his uncles, Fred and George Naeter, owned. They were printers from St. Louis, by way of Shelbina, Mo., and Quincy, Ill., who purchased the defunct Weekly Republican in Cape Girardeau with a borrowed $425 down payment.

The first publication of their newspaper was on Oct. 3, 1904. They were joined within a short time by Naeter's father, Harry A. Naeter, a newspaperman in Chicago.

His father died in 1918 when his son was 6 months old. Young Harry was reared by his mother, Lucille Settle Naeter. Not long before his death, the senior Harry Naeter proposed that the newspaper, now a daily, cease being a partisan political publication and become independent. Shortly after Naeter's death, his brothers renamed the paper The Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, later shortened to its present name.

As a boy, Harry Naeter roamed the newspaper's shop and front office and became thoroughly familiar with operation of the business. He recalled his first work outside the office was as a newsboy.

He went from that into the circulation department, then into the business office, and was circulation manager before entering the Army Air Force in World War II.

In the early 1940s, he owned and operated a weekly newspaper, the Louisville Times, in Louisville, Colo., for a year and a half, as he said, "... to learn first hand typesetting, makeup and printing."

In a brief resume he wrote after his return from service in World War II, he explained, "After the war I worked on the news side as a reporter, wire editor and assistant managing editor until the death of George Naeter, when I returned to the business side as the assistant to Fred Naeter."

Naeter became publisher of the Missourian upon the death of Fred Naeter in 1965. He continued as the owner and publisher until the newspaper was sold to the Thomson group of newspapers on Nov. 24, 1976. In 1986, the paper was purchased by Gary Rust, who was publisher of the thrice-weekly Bulletin Journal.

As it had done under his uncles, the Missourian won scores of national and state awards through his tenure and carried on numerous editorial campaigns in behalf of the betterment of Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri.

Naeter served on the board of the Great River Roads Commission, which sought to mark highways along the Mississippi River from its source to its mouth. He also was elected to the corporate board of Missouri Blue Cross-Blue Shield and was named by former Gov. Warren E. Hearnes to a citizens committee to promote a constitutional amendment for reorganization of state government.

He was a member of the Cape Girardeau Public Library Board and had held membership at different times in the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club and the Lions Club. He also was a member of the Jaycees.

In 1958, Naeter was elected president of the Southeast Missouri Press Association. He was a member of the Southern Illinois Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, national newspaper fraternity.

In 1971, after serving as vice president, Naeter was elected president of the Missouri Press Association. In this capacity, he and Mrs. Naeter were invited by President and Mrs. Nixon to a reception in the White House for about 300 editors and publishers from across the country.

President John F. Kennedy invited Naeter and a few other publishers to a luncheon with him in the White House. He afterward wrote a descriptive account of the visit in the Missourian.

He was invited by United Jewish Appeal to join other publishers and newspeople across the country in a working newspaper tour of Israel.

Naeter and Miss Grada Mai Harmon were married on May 8, 1937, in Pinckneyville, Ill.

Upon graduation from Central High School, Naeter attended Southeast Missouri State College and later the University of Missouri.

He entered the Army Air Force on Sept. 30, 1944, and trained at Barksdale Field, La., as a bombardier on a B-17. He was mustered out of service on Oct. 4, 1945, and returned to Cape Girardeau to resume his work with the newspaper.

Naeter is survived by his wife; a daughter, Mrs. Kenneth (Diane) Bryan of Cape Girardeau; three sons, Fred Naeter of Cape Girardeau, George Naeter of Dallas, Texas, and Robert Naeter of Franklin, Tenn., 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Two sons, Harry Naeter III and James Christopher Naeter, preceded him in death.