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Fred Paxton, newspaper group chairman, dead at 73 Tuesday, Apr 4, 2006 Special to Arkansas News Bureau PADUCAH, Ky. - James Fredrick "Fred" Paxton, 73, of Paducah, chairman of the board of Paxton Media Group, the parent company of Arkansas daily newspapers in Jonesboro, Russellville and Searcy, died Sunday at a Paducah hospital after a 3-week battle with pancreatic cancer. He previously had served as president of the company, publisher of The Paducah Sun and president of WPSD-TV. His newspaper and broadcasting career spanned 48 years. He also served as president of numerous civic, industry, community and educational organizations. He was formerly chairman of the NBC affiliates board, chairman of Maximum Service Telecasters and president of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association. In addition, he was a former director of SNPA (Southern Newspaper Publishers Association) and is father of SNPA Treasurer David Paxton. "Fred Paxton was a great man, and he had a genuine interest in his employees," said David Mosesso, publisher of The Jonesboro Sun and chairman of the Arkansas division of Paxton Media Group. "I've worked for Paxton Media Group for 15 years, and I have yet to hear one negative word about him," Mosesso said. "He always made you feel as though you were special and that your contribution to the company was of major significance." In guiding the family-owned media company, Paxton followed in the footsteps of his father, Edwin J. Paxton Sr., whose own career spanned 61 years. Paxton Media Group was a 1-newspaper, 1-television station company in 1989. PMG now owns 29 daily newspapers and dozens of weeklies in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and Michigan. "Kentucky lost one of its finest citizens," said former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones. "Fred was the epitome of honesty, decency, basic goodness and plain old common sense." "I could always pick up the phone and call Fred when I needed advice," Jones said. "He was the type of person who would always give you an honest answer. He never gave a political answer, which is valuable to a governor." Paxton was recognized as an outstanding community and business leader, and as a man who shared his talents and financial success to improve the community at all levels. Many of his contributions were done quietly without fanfare or thought of personal gain. One of his last acts was to help Paducah's River City Mission, which provides assistance to the homeless and transients. "He came out and wanted to help with either a new cabin or to help fix our sewer problems," said Shirley Barlow, chairman of the mission board. He offered a $25,000 anonymous contribution. "He's been very supportive of the mission for many years," Barlow said. "No one knew what he did to help us other than the board members. It was people like him who kept the mission going." Surviving are his wife of 51 years, Peggy Sabel Paxton; a brother, Frank Paxton of Venice, Fla.; a sister, Pat Brockenborough of Paducah; three sons, Jim, David and Richard Paxton, all of Paducah; a daughter, Nancy L. Paxton Desai of Atherton, Calif., and 12 grandchildren. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in marketing. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force, where he was a member of a B-47 flight crew. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Paducah. Burial will be in Mount Carmel Cemetery. ----- Most material for this story was furnished by The Paducah Sun and The Jonesboro Sun. |
