FORMER EDITOR JOHN BLUE, A CHAMPION OF CAPE GIRARDEAU, DIES AT 86

~Correction: Blue died Thursday, March 8, 2001.

As editor of the Southeast Missourian newspaper throughout the 1960s and 1970s, John L. Blue forcefully voiced his belief that growth and prosperity were Cape Girardeau's destiny. He loved the city as well as the Southeast Missourian newspaper, Southeast Missouri State University and Southeast Missouri Hospital -- the elements he believed were essential to the city's future.

Blue died Thursday, March 9, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital, where he served on the board of trustees for nearly half a century. He was 86.

He was on the newspaper staff 40 years before retiring in 1980. He spent 19 of those years as editor.

Others who were active in public life at the time say Blue was given extraordinary leeway to champion the causes he felt were important. "John pushed for everything that was progressive in Cape Girardeau," said Albert Spradling, a state senator from Cape Girardeau during much of Blue's tenure as the newspaper's editor.

He called Blue "a driving force for the city."

He saw many of the things he wanted for the city materialize. The council-manager form of government, the end of inequity in state funding for undergraduates at state colleges and the University of Missouri, a community tree-planting program and completion of Interstate 55 were just a few.

One eluded him. "His one desire was to see the bridge finished," said Mary, his wife of 60 years. Blue had editorialized about the need for a new Mississippi River traffic bridge more than 20 years before construction began.

Had opposed floodwall

He and the newspaper opposed building the floodwall, viewing it as a barrier between the city and its river. But he later admitted the wall "saved the Main Street district and has proved its worth."

Though he was born in Flat River, Mo., and graduated from Poplar Bluff, Mo., High School, daughter Bunny Waddell says her father loved Cape Girardeau.

"He had a real vision for what Cape Girardeau should be," she said. "Every time I came to town, we had the everything's-up-to-date-in-Cape Girardeau tour."

Waddell, the Blues' only child, lives in Powder Springs, Ga.

He strongly supported Southeast Missouri State University, where he taught journalism for seven years after his retirement. His mother was a house mother at Albert Hall, a former residence hall, and he was the sports editor of the Capaha Arrow and of the yearbook.

Marvin Swanson, former head of the international student center, got to know him through Blue's heading up of the center's international business center. "John could do more work in 20 hours than most people could put in in 40 hours," Swanson said.

They became friends who hunted and traveled together. "He has been a tremendous person in my life," Swanson said.

Joni Adams, former managing editor of the Southeast Missourian, says Blue never really got out of journalism. "He always kept up on current events. He would call me all the time with story ideas," she said.

Adams worked for the competing Bulletin-Journal when Blue was at the Southeast Missourian but said: "John Blue has always been my role model. He was adamant about objectivity in the news and eloquent in his writing. He was tough as nails and yet he was caring."

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle grew up around the corner from the Blues. The Blues and his parents were best friends. Swingle's father died when he was 9. Thereafter his family became more frequent dinner guests at the Blue house.

A father figure'

"He was one of the adult males who was a father figure to me after I lost my dad," Swingle said. "I admired him so much because of his intelligence and keen sense of humor."

"I'll never forget John Blue."

Blue started out at the Southeast Missourian in 1940 as a general assignment reporter making $17.50 a week. Early on he was sent to cover a fancy tea because the women in the newsroom refused to go, lacking the requisite white gloves.

He was dignified and gentlemanly. He always referred to his wife as Mary Blue, never Mary, and she called him John Blue. "We even did that at home," she said.

For many years he was a sports stringer for St. Louis and Kansas City newspapers while working for the Southeast Missourian.

Retired attorney Ray Vogel had been friends with Blue since they were in college together at Southeast. They were fishing buddies until Blue's health began declining and he could no longer fish or hunt. When Vogel became the Cape Girardeau city attorney and the county prosecuting attorney, his friend John often was the reporter covering him.

"I never knew once when he didn't get the thing correct," Vogel said. "He was very careful in his reporting. He was the best reporter I ever met."

Many awards received

Blue was the Missouri president of the Associated Press managing editors organization and received many awards for his work as a journalist.

He also worked hard on behalf of First Presbyterian Church, serving as a deacon and elder and member of the Presbytery coordinating council.

Southeast Missouri State University gave him its esteemed Alumni Merit Award, and he was named a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest honor the Rotary Club gives.

As a member of the Rotary Club, Blue started a program to honor the top 10 percent of the Cape Girardeau Central and Notre Dame high school graduating classes because he thought athletes shouldn't get all the recognition. The Rotary Club later named the recognition banquet the John Blue Academic Excellence Dinner, an honor that thrilled him.

James Wente, administrator at Southeast Missouri Hospital, said Blue is believed to have served as an active and honorary member of the board longer than anyone else ever has -- 44 years. "He was very dedicated, committed and very dependable, and as everybody knows he was a great communicator," Wente said.

Despite his infirmities, last year he filed the nomination papers that led to the induction of former Southeast Missourian publishers Fred and George Naeter into the Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame.

An operation in November left Blue incapacitated. An ardent reader, especially of histories, he no longer could hold books up. Betty Martin, head librarian at the Cape Girardeau Public Library, took him biographies of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Colin Powell on tape.

Though his body began failing him about five years ago, Blue retained his intellectual abilities until his death.

One of Blue's regrets was that digital technology revolutionized the newspaper industry after he retired. E-mail and the Internet fascinated him. He got on the Internet for the first time at age 85.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian Church.

Memorials may be given to the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation, the First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, Teen Challenge or the John and Mary Blue Journalism Scholarship at Southeast Missouri State University.