AVON LAKE — John Cole, the former editor of The Morning Journal who became a columnist for The Chronicle-Telegram after his retirement, died early Thursday at his Avon Lake home.

Cole, 61, had suffered from kidney disease for many years, but never allowed his illness to interfere with his dedication to the pursuit of quality journalism in the community he loved.

“John Cole was a strong editor in the finest newspaper tradition — talented, passionate, demanding and fearless,” said Tom Skoch, current editor of The Morning Journal, who worked under Cole for 23 years.

“His news judgment was excellent, his compassion for the little guy was genuine, and his contempt for the corrupt was ferocious,” Skoch added.

A native of Springfield, Ohio, Cole earned a bachelor’s degree from Denison University and a master’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. He joined the Journal — then an afternoon newspaper — in 1974. Prior to being named editor at age 29, he held the positions of reporter, city editor and managing editor.

Lois Cole said her husband had ample opportunity to leave Lorain for a larger market, but cherished the work he did as the editor of a small hometown paper.

“He always said that one thing he got right in his life was the career he went into,” she said. “He loved it from day one – mixing with people in the community, the politics and breaking a big story.”

Cole is remembered by many as a tough newsman who made sure young reporters left Lorain as better journalists.

“John had the courage of a lion, and the spirit of one, too,” said David Mendell, former Journal reporter who went on to work several newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, and wrote the book, “Obama: From Promise to Power.”

“As a young journalist, I could not have asked for a tougher or more demanding editor. John stood for courage and commitment to the First Amendment, to exposing corrupt and deceitful politicians, to righting societal wrongs — everything this business is supposed to be about,” Mendell said.

If there was anyone who embodied the adage, “Don’t pick a fight with a guy who buys his ink by the barrel,” that person was Cole, said former colleague and friend Matt Smith, now a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Smith worked at the Journal from 1977 to 1985.

“He was someone who couldn’t stand to see public servants not doing the right thing and enjoyed telling them so,” he said. “I owe a good part of my career to him for the things I learned under his tutelage. He cared deeply about journalism and what it could accomplishment.”

Among the many political leaders who suffered the consequences of — as well as benefited from — Cole’s scrutiny was Craig Foltin, mayor of Lorain from 2000 to 2007, and city auditor from 1993-1999.

“John and I hit every end of the spectrum in our relationship,” said Foltin, who is now executive vice president of administration and finance at Cuyahoga Community College. “He wasn’t a big fan of mine for many years, but I think I wore him down.

“No one in my public and personal life was as tough on me as John was,” added Foltin. “But his critical view of me made me a better auditor, accountant and mayor. Very few people I have known in journalism and even in politics had more passion for the community. He was hard-hitting and brutally honest.

“One thing he never was, was afraid,” Foltin said. “He would go toe-to-toe with the president of the United States if need be. He looked at it as: Right is right and wrong is wrong.”

Gregory Korte, who now covers Congress for USA Today, was a reporter for Cole from 1994 to 1997.

“John Cole made no excuses for wanting to sell newspapers,” Korte said. “That was the business we were in, and our livelihoods depended on it. He was fiercely competitive. We competed every day against The Plain Dealer, The Chronicle-Telegram, The Sandusky Register and The Norwalk Reflector. I don’t know if there was a more competitive newspaper market in the country.

“He was a crusader,” Korte added. “He stuck up for the little guy. But he also had a sense of fairness. He hated corruption and incompetence. He believed in holding the scoundrels accountable. When a public official was missing in action, he would send a photographer to take a picture of his empty chair and put it on the front page.

“I still remember the front-page picture of Lorain’s community development director, Sandy Prudoff, on the golf course as companies were laying off workers and jobs were leaving town,” Korte said. “John put the picture under the headline: “Prudoff works — on his swing.”

Under Cole’s leadership, The Morning Journal also won numerous national awards for coverage of such subjects as unemployment, the needs of the elderly, poverty, racism and children in foster care. The newspaper was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for reporter Michele Lesie’s 1984 story of a Vermilion girl’s suicide, “”Why Jenny Died.”

“He didn’t accept the idea that small newspapers couldn’t do good journalism,” said Gregory Korte. “He gave two other reporters and me six months to work on a series on the use of Ritalin to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, which was skyrocketing. We won a wheelbarrow full of national awards, and 60 Minutes and the New York Times ended up following our story.

“There were quite a few young reporters who found Cole intimidating, to say the least,” Korte remembers. “He would shout. He would swear. He would kick his trashcan across the newsroom when we made a mistake or got scooped. The euphemism we came up with to describe him was `mercurial.’

 “But for those of us who survived, it was the best experience in all of newspapering. There’s no doubt in my mind that I am where I am today because of John Cole.”

Skoch said Cole never stopped pushing despite the pile of awards – he wanted the Journal to remain a watchdog of the community.

“He wanted the paper to reflect life in the community and to convey the full force of that in its pages,” he said. “If you read the paper while he was there, he wanted you to feel sad or glad or mad depending on what you read because that is what life was like.”

For his many accomplishments, Cole was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003.

“In considering possible honorees, John Cole’s name stood out, “ said the chapter’s president at the time, Wendy Hoke. “He has dominated Lorain County journalism for more than two decades, and has kept The Morning Journal strong despite increased competition from all sides.”

Lois and John Cole married in 1977. They have two children, Wendolyn Klein, of Columbia City, Ind., and Kip Sipe of Fort Wayne, Ind., They have four grandchildren.

After work, he unwound by reading, his wife said.

“He read everything,” his wife said with a strong emphasize on the word everything. “He had lists of books that he would read next. He got that from his father who kept a journal of every book he ever read and emphasized at his home that reading was important.”

He was an Ohio State fan who watched every game — a tradition from his childhood when he and his father would drive from Springfield to Columbus to attend games.

“When a game was playing, the television would be on and then off and then on again,” Lois Cole said. “He couldn’t handle it when they were behind. He had to turn off the television.”

Lois Cole said her husband also had a great sense of humor. That humor was evident in the weekly column he wrote for the Journal and then for The Chronicle, which he joined as a political columnist after his retirement.

“When he retired, he really missed being in the newspaper business and being in the mix,” Lois Cole said. “He got a lot of joy out of writing his weekly column. He had it in his blood.”

Funeral arrangements are pending with the Busch-Burmeister Funeral Home in Avon and a memorial service will be held at a later date.

Richard Osborne, publisher and editor of Ohio Magazine and a columnist for The Morning Journal, contributed material for this report.

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