I first met Gail Stahle when I returned to work at the Davis County Clipper. I had left a full-time position there as editor in the late ‘80s but returned to do part-time writing for a couple of years. In 2010, he hired me back as the editor, a position I held for 10 more years.

From our first meeting, I knew that newspapering and the Clipper were his passions. He was serious and focused, and he went through a cast of characters as a publisher – dozens of writers, editors, salespeople, designers and printers. He owned the best printing press in Utah – the envy of even the large daily papers, and printed other publications for many years. He took on challenges – like creating Iron County Today and buying the Morgan County News to keep those weeklies in business. He never shied away from expanding and maintaining the value of local newspapers – a tradition started in Davis County 129 years ago by his grandfather. Gail was a third-generation newspaper publisher, a great legacy we may never see again in this country.

He made many sacrifices to keep the Clipper alive – more than most of us know. He sold his beloved home and eventually liquidated parts of that amazing press to keep the Clipper going as print journalism began to lose steam and sales revenues declined. He didn’t take any paycheck for many years to meet the salaries of his staff. And while most of the public never fully appreciated his efforts and dedication to the craft, his peers did.

In 2020, he was honored by the Utah Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with its Lifetime Achievement Award. I remember seeing the smile on his face when I delivered that plaque to him in his office. Sadly, because of the pandemic, SPJ canceled its awards banquet that year, so Gail never had the chance to be recognized in front of an audience. But he felt honored, just as he had been by the Utah Press Association many times, with the walls of the Clipper lined with awards the newspaper won over many years.

On Dec. 4, 2020, he published the last issue of the Davis Clipper. It was an emotional day for all of us, but particularly for Gail. He had done everything he could to keep the Clipper alive. Readers were shocked and saddened when their weekly paper no longer came to their homes. Few realized how hard Gail Stahle had worked to continue publishing. As with so many facets of our lives, we never knew how much we’d miss it until it was gone.

On Saturday, March 30, R. Gail Stahle passed away in St. George, where he’d gone to retire. Word reached us when his son Richard posted the announcement of his death online. Hundreds of condolences followed – and many more will come in the days ahead. We will all reflect on how Gail touched our lives, and how his work as a publisher kept us informed. And hopefully, we’ll realize how grateful we should be for the dedication to journalism that largely defined Gail Stahle.