Submitted by: Dan Rich
March 21, 1916 - Feb. 5, 1997
South Bend Tribune 2/7/1997
Victor G. Spaniolo, 80, a retired newspaper publisher, died of leukemia on Feb. 5, 1997, in South Bend, Ind. Mr. Spaniolo, who devoted most of his career to editing and publishing newspapers in Michigan, retired from the newspaper business in 1972 after serving as general manager of the Niles Daily Star.
Born in Charlotte, Mich., Mr. Spaniolo was the sixth of nine children of Italian-American parents who immigrated to the U.S. in 1900 from southern Italy. The family operated a fruit and produce business in Charlotte and Lansing for many years.
His newspaper career began following graduation from Michigan State College in 1939, where he had been a campus correspondent for the Detroit Free Press. After serving for a year as graduate manager of The State News, the Michigan State student newspaper, he joined the Michigan Farmer in Detroit in 1940, and later worked briefly for the Big Rapids Pioneer. From there he moved to Port Huron in 1941 where he was a general assignment reporter at the Times Herald. In subsequent years he was state editor at the Muskegon Chronicle, the managing editor of the Greenville Daily News and a reporter for the Battle Creek Enquirer.
He purchased the Charlevoix Courier in 1949, which he published until 1952 when he and his younger brother, James W., acquired and became co-publishers of the Cassopolis Vigilant. During the 17 years in which they published the Vigilant, the newspaper became one of the most successful small weeklies in the state. They also acquired the Edwardsburg Argus in 1958.
As a weekly newspaper publisher, Mr. Spaniolo was well known for his strong support of his community, including the local schools. The Vigilant and Argus were acquired by the Niles Daily Star in 1969, and Mr. Spaniolo was asked to assume responsibility for both his former newspapers as well as the Daily Star. Throughout his publishing career, he also was an active member of the Michigan Press Association.
Following retirement, Mr. Spaniolo was involved in a number of community and commercial projects. He was also a founding member and later chair of the Board of Directors for The State News at Michigan State University. In addition, for more than a decade he served as the chair of the Board of Directors of Westgate Center, a mental health facility located near Cassopolis.
Although he was diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 1983, he maintained an active schedule until the last few months.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Eleanor Fox Spaniolo, as well as by two sons, James D. of East Lansing and Thomas of Dallas, Texas; two daughters, Margaret of New York City and Virginia of St. Paul, Minn.; and by four grandchildren.
He also is survived by two brothers, Michael of Lansing and James W. of Holt, and two sisters, Lena of Grand Rapids and Virginia of Muskegon.
Deeply devoted to his family to whom he was a prolific letter-writer, he cherished his Italian heritage and had a lifelong love of newspapers.
A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Ann Catholic Church, Cassopolis, Mich., with Rev. Donald G. Potts, Pastor, and Rev. Minerva G. Carcano, Mr. Spaniolo's daughter-in-law, of the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, officiating. Burial will be in Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Friends may call from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Connelly Funeral Home, Cassopolis.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Children's Leukemia Foundation of Michigan (Southfield, Mich.), to the Hospice House of St. Joseph County, Ind., or to the Victor G. Spaniolo Journalism Scholarship Fund at Michigan State University.