Ron Bridgeman, former editor, publisher of The Courier News, passes away at 75
Ron Bridgeman
He was a fierce defender of a free press, open government and open records; a basketball fan and dog rescuer; a son and brother, sweet patootie, stepdad and PopPop; mentor and friend.
Ron was born July 16, 1950, in Elizabethton to Edith (Weisner) and Ernest Bridgeman.
The family moved to Knoxville when he was 6 months old. He grew up in Knoxville, attending Oakwood Elementary and Christenberry Junior High schools, and graduating from Fulton High School in 1968.
His abiding love of the Great Smoky Mountains was fostered as a member of Boy Scout Troop 49 at Emerald Avenue United Methodist Church. He earned his Eagle Scout rank as a 14-year-old ninth-grader and was Student Council president and a member of the basketball team, according to a newspaper clipping at the time.
The very short article marked the three central forces in his life: community service, a fascination with history and government, and a sport he loved. The fact that the family clipped the article and saved it serves as testament to his chosen career.
A Bickel Scholar at the University of Tennessee, Ron dropped out two quarters shy of graduation to join the staff of a weekly newspaper in Lenoir City in 1973, going to work for longtime owner and publisher Vernon McKinney at the Lenoir City News.
Years later he would tell people he got involved with the business “while dating the boss’s daughter and falling in love with community newspapers.”
He graduated from UT with a bachelor of science degree in communications from its School of Journalism in 1978 because delaying further would have meant taking math courses, which had recently been added to the curriculum and, he joked, “would have been a deal-breaker” so long after high school.
His award-winning career as “an itinerant newspaper guy” took him to reporter, editor and publisher roles for daily and non-daily newspapers in Westminster, Maryland.; Owensboro and Nicholasville, Kentucky; Oak Ridge, Clinton, Knoxville, Kingston, and Clinton, Tennessee; and Eatonton, Greensboro, Madison, Gainesville and Jefferson, Georgia.
At the Lenoir City News, he covered the community, launching a career he loved, and eventually serving as the weekly’s news editor and managing editor before being named publisher in 1980.
In 1981, he led the effort to merge the paper with its in-county rival, The Loudon County Herald, and he was the first publisher of the new, twice-weekly publication, the Loudon County News-Herald.
He went on to Roane Newspapers in nearby Kingston, where he managed newsroom operations for the three-times-a-week Roane County News and three other weekly publications; then to covering state and local government and politics and later serving as editor for The Oak Ridger, a five-day daily in Oak Ridge, founded during World War II and home to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a large U.S. Department of Energy facility.
It was in the newsroom at The Oak Ridger in 1985 that Bridgeman, the state government reporter, met his future wife, the lifestyles editor; he and Karen were married April 30, 1992, while he was working as publisher of The Jessamine Journal in Nicholasville, Ky.
He expressed his gratitude for the introduction to Tom Hill, The Oak Ridger’s publisher and another mentor, at the wedding, which was held at The Lakeside Grill, at the bar where the couple had their first dates when the facility was known as Gregory’s on the Water.
The couple used the same location for their 15th and 30th wedding anniversary parties, when it was operated as The Flatwater Grill and Calhoun’s on the Water, respectively. He was adamant about using the location each time, a reflection of his sentimental heart.
He counted the positions in East Tennessee and the relationships he formed there as the most significant of his professional career and his personal life, especially his years as editor of The Oak Ridger (1994-2000) and publisher of The Courier News in Clinton (2001-2010).
In 2011, Ron took a position with Smith Communications in Eatonton, Ga., to facilitate “chasing grandchildren” who lived in Jefferson; their grandmother had decided East Tennessee was too far away for PopPop and NaiNai to be part of the children’s “everyday lives.”
He and said grandmother worked together again in Eatonton where they led The Eatonton Messenger (founded in 1861) to its first-ever General Excellence Award from the Georgia Press Association in 2013, repeating the honors in 2014 and 2015.
When it turned out that even Eatonton was too far away from the grands, the couple moved to Jefferson in 2015, where Ron worked briefly for the Gainesville Times before joining the staff at MainStreet News, reporting for The Barrow News-Journal and The Jackson Herald before the world came to a standstill for the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, effectively ending his career.
In the course of his career, Ron was active with the Society of Professional Journalists, including its East Tennessee and Georgia professional chapters, and with the state press associations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, and Georgia, focusing on the importance of open meetings and records in government, public education, and professional development.
He won awards in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia for his reporting on local news, business, public education, and government, as well as for editorial writing, personal columns, photography, and layout and design.
He served on the founding boards of directors for education foundations in Oak Ridge and Nicholasville, and as president of the Anderson County Chamber Education Foundation.
A long-time Rotarian, he lived the organization’s motto of “Service Above Self.” He was a member of Rotary clubs in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. He was a graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge; one of three founders of Leadership Roane County; and a director for boards of the chambers of commerce and United Way organizations in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 2007, he served with his wife as co-chair of the first million-dollar campaign for United Way of Anderson County.
Among his favorite companions were the nearly two dozen dogs and cats he rescued, adopted, or fostered over the years, especially his beloved mutt, Stranger. “The more people I meet, the more I like my dog,” was emblazoned across his favorite T-shirt.
With the encouragement of his daughter-in-law, he volunteered with Dirt Road Doggie Rescue in his COVID-imposed retirement, embracing the challenges and rewards of fostering senior dogs and those with health issues. He provided unconditional love and care for Smokey, the first, until Hairy Dawg, the last before his own illness.
Ron loved basketball with all his heart, especially the Boston Celtics and the women’s and men’s programs at the University of Tennessee; but, as he said, if the activity involved short pants and a round ball, he’d be there. He was known to take vacation time to travel to the Tennessee state high school basketball tournaments or to stay home and binge on college tournaments as the NCAA season wound down each year.
He was proud to say he had followed the UT Lady Vols basketball team since Pat Summitt’s earliest coaching days when he and Pat “were both still students.” He treasured the season tickets Karen gave him for his 45th birthday and the friendships made and deepened in Section 120 at Thompson-Boling Arena over the years. He went to his eternal rest wearing a Tennessee orange “We Back Pat” T-shirt; its mate is part of a quilt made for his 70th birthday.
In addition to his wife, Ron is survived by his stepsons, Kevin Wright of Oak Ridge, and David (Amy) Wright of Jefferson, Georgia; grandsons Emerson and Madux Wright of Jefferson; grand-dogs Cutie, Sophie, and Shelby, and grand-cat, Chewbecca, of Jefferson; his sister, Judy Joiner, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; and her children, Scott (Alicia) Joiner of Lake St. Louis, Missouri; and Suzanne Joiner and Sherry (John) Harrell of Virginia Beach; and his “second mother,” Maxine Mantooth, of Knoxville.
In accordance with his wishes, his brain has been donated to the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank in Jacksonville, Florida, for further research into PSP; and his body, to the Body Donor Program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia in Suwanee.
The family is incredibly grateful to those who helped make those donations possible and to the angels on Earth who work with Northeast Georgia Medical Center Hospice; Dr. William Grimsley at Northeast Georgia Physicians Group and his staff; Dr. John Morgan, director of the Movement & Memory Disorders Programs in Neurology Department at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, and his team; Holly Collier, FN-P, at Athens Neurological Associates; and Jody Smith, Melissa Zwald, Dan Keller, and Wanda Kapaun at Enhabit Home Health.
Ron was determined to be cared for at home, and that would not have been possible without the support provided by the staff and volunteers at the Northeast Georgia Council on Aging and the Jackson County Senior Center Meals on Wheels program, and the dedication and assistance of his caregivers: Jennifer LaValle, Amanada Robinson, Taylor LaValle, and Gina Headrick of Jefferson; and Kristy Covington, Help at Home, Watkinsville. Their faithful service sustained us all.
At his direction, there will be no funeral; he wanted a party where his favorite drink (Tangueray and tonic with extra lime) was served, and laughter and storytelling were the order of the day.
David and Amy Wright will host an informal, drop-in open house at their home, 95 Vantage Drive, Jefferson, on Sunday, Nov. 16, from noon to 6 p.m. Attire is casual; UT gear is encouraged. Additional celebrations are being planned in East Tennessee and Minnesota, dates to be determined.
To memorialize his life and death, Ron suggested donations to your local food bank, Council on Aging, or Meals on Wheels program; to Dirt Road Doggies Rescue, PO Box 79, Gillsville, GA 30543 (or visit dirtroaddoggiesrescue.org/donate/); or to Cure PSP, 325 Hudson St., New York, NY 10013 (or visit tinyurl.com/2utydh7p).