Wally Lage

In the week since the death of Wally Lage, so many good people of Cape Girardeau and from around the nation have found wonderful ways to share their best memories of a singular man. Perhaps even Wally would have been surprised to learn how far his sphere of influence reached in his life.

Wally was a key member of the newspaper family that operates under the banner of Rust Communications. His name appeared each day at the top of this page as a member of the Southeast Missourian's editorial board. At the weekly meetings of that board, Wally seldom made superfluous comments. When he spoke, it was to add something pertinent, germane, useful to arriving at an opinion of some merit. For that the other members of the board were always grateful, and readers of our editorials were the beneficiaries of his input. That guidance will be sorely missed.

At his visitation Tuesday night, at his funeral Mass on Wednesday and at a reception at the Cape Girardeau Country Club, Wally's family heard over and over how important Wally had been to so many people in so many ways. These were genuine expressions of admiration for a man whose life has ended but whose legacy will endure for a long time.