Donald W. Reynolds; Media Group Founder
Donald W. Reynolds, who founded the Donrey Media Group and was regularly named on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, has died at sea after a brief illness.
He was 86.
Reynolds died Friday off the northwest coast of Italy on a vessel bound for Spain, company officials said here Saturday.
Reynolds retired from participation in Las Vegas-based Donrey in 1990 but kept in close contact with the chain of 53 daily newspapers, 11 outdoor advertising companies, five cable television companies and one television station.
“He distinguished himself in the world of journalism and in service to his country. Yet when emergencies arose, I have seen him take off his jacket and help unload newsprint or bundle newspapers,” said Fred W. Smith, president and chief executive officer of the media group.
Reynolds was born Sept. 23, 1906, in Ft. Worth, Tex. He moved with his family to Oklahoma City shortly thereafter and began his career as a paperboy. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1927.
Reynolds at first worked at newspapers in Kansas City, Mo., Indianapolis and Austin, Tex.
In 1935, he bought the Quincy (Mass.) Evening News from Marsh-Fentress Newspaper Group and merged it with the Quincy Patriot Ledger before selling his interest and moving to Texas, where he operated the Wichita Falls Post for a short time.
In 1940, he bought the Okmulgee (Okla.) Daily Times and the Southwest American and Fort Smith Times Record in Ft. Smith, Ark. The three newspapers were the basis for the chain.
Reynolds also created the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, which gave $100,000 in scholarships each year to journalism students at 10 universities. In 1992, the foundation gave the University of Missouri at Columbia $9 million to build an alumni center.
A $2.5-million grant to the University of Nevada, Reno was used to construct a building for the Reynolds School of Journalism, which will be dedicated April 16. The foundation also committed $4 million to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to build a student services center.
Reynolds was awarded the Purple Heart during World War II.
He is survived by three children--Nancy of New York, Donald Jr. of Tulsa, Okla., and Jonathan of Santa Monica--six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
