Dave Frazer, Longtime Publisher, Dies at 72

By: David K. Frazer, publisher of The Daily Star newspaper from 1976 to 2000 and longtime Florida journalist, has died after suffering a heart attack.

Frazer, who had fought a variety of illnesses over the past several years, was home with his family when he died on Sunday. He was 72.

"It is with profound sadness that we learned this morning of the death of Dave Frazer," Daily Star Publisher Keenan Gingles said Monday. "Besides his immediate survivors, he leaves a large family at The Daily Star, who cherish his memory and the years of service he gave to the newspaper and the community. The Daily Star and Paxton Media Group extend our sympathies to his family and many friends. He was truly a great newspaper man."

A native of Eldorado, Ill., Frazer served two years with the U.S. Army in Germany and graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1958.

Frazer, whose parents were also in the newspaper business, started his career as a photographer while still in high school in 1951. In 1960, he joined the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger as a reporter. He subsequently worked as reporter, city editor and managing editor at the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, the East St. Louis Metro-East Journal and the DeLand (Fla.) Sun-News.

In 1971, Frazer became publisher of the Statesboro (Ga.) Herald, leaving there in 1975 to become editor and publisher of three South Dakota weekly newspapers headquartered in Gettysburg, S.D.

Nixon Newspapers Inc., then owners of The Daily Star, brought him to Hammond as publisher in 1976, and he immediately became active in the community. He served on the board of directors and as president of the United Way, Rotary Club and the Tangipahoa Industrial Development Foundation. He also was a strong supporter of the Hammond Chamber of Commerce and, in 1982, was the Hammond Kiwanis Club's Citizen of the Year.

Frazer was a longtime member and board member of the Louisiana Press Association and served as its president in 1989-90. He also served as president of the Louisiana Daily Newspaper Publishers Association for two years.

In the early 1980s, the Daily Star Publishing Co. bought the former Coca-Cola bottling plant, and Frazer oversaw its renovation and conversion into a newspaper publishing plant. He moved the publishing operation into the facility in September 1985.

Frazer, an avid fisherman, retired at 65 and enjoyed traveling with his family but fought a variety of illnesses over the past several years.

His family had gathered Sunday for a reunion and were with him when he suffered the heart attack, said Michael Frazer, his son.

"He died with a smile on his face," he said.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home in Hammond. Survivors also include his wife, Patti; another son, Douglas; and three grandchildren, Brandon, Nicole and Christopher.