Retired Roanoke Newspaper Editor Dies at 92

By: Retired newspaper editor John W. Eure has died at age 93.

Eure, who also was a civic leader and philanthropist, died early Sunday of kidney failure.

The son of a Methodist minister and an English teacher, Eure was born in Richmond and grew up in Lynchburg. He took a job with a newspaper in South Boston after he graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1936, and joined The Roanoke Times a year later.

Army service during World War II interrupted his career, but he returned to the newspaper in 1946 and was named first assistant to the president of Times-World Corp. He became a vice president in January 1960. During that time, he was active in numerous civic affairs and served on the Roanoke School Board.

Eure returned to the newspaper side in 1962 as managing editor of the now-defunct evening Roanoke World-News, and retired from that position in 1977.

A journalism award was named for Eure at Virginia Tech, where he was a visiting professor of journalism.

Eure was preceded in death by his first and second wives and a son. He is survived by a son and a daughter.