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OUR OPINION
Fred liked things to be beautiful. I don’t know how much of that came from his wife Susan, and how much was him, but everything the Willenbrocks touched turned out beautiful. The Miner office is a perfect example. I started working here not long after The Miner moved from a storefront on Union Avenue to our current location, a refurbished parsonage that looked like it was taken from the pages of a Pottery Barn catalogue. And the landscaping is something to behold. The charming signs that welcome visitors to Pend Oreille County at both the south and north ends are Fred’s handiwork, as is the Welcome to Diamond Lake and Welcome to Newport signs on Highway 2. (We’ve always referred to them as Fred’s signs.) Centennial Plaza at the south end of Washington Avenue in Newport, with its quaint gazebo, giant Christmas tree and lush flower beds was Fred’s baby for years. Newport High School’s football stadium was a passion project of Fred’s that earned The Miner a Community Service Award from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.
Fred was a champion for youth sports. The Miner’s high school sports coverage was unmatched and he spent a lot of time and personal resources on the sporting facilities here, beyond the football stadium.
Fred was also the personification of professionalism. He taught me that words spoken in a quiet tone carry a lot more heft than yelling. He had a calmness about him that could diffuse the sometimes tense atmosphere of a newsroom on deadline and he handled a lot of different personalities throughout the years, both as employer and a journalist.
I won’t ever know all the influence Fred had around here. When still at The Miner, I often saw him standing by the window in what’s now my office, looking out on Highway 2, talking quietly on his cell phone. Countless people called him for his take on things, asking for his advice and influence.
I never knew Fred’s politics when I worked for him. I have my guesses now, but he never let on whether he leaned left or right, he just championed what he thought was best for his community. And he defended his staff. Whether the verbal beatings we took from the public were warranted or not, Fred always defended his newsroom. And if we were in the wrong, he’d take the time to quietly make it a learning moment. He never once raised his voice in my presence. And trust me, I gave him many reasons to in my 20s.
When he retired from The Miner, he left a legacy that is difficult to follow. The way newspapers operate has changed dramatically in the last 11 years but there are core ideals that remain the same and they were Fred’s top priority: honesty, accuracy and transparency; holding government accountable; celebrating our youth.
In his last editorial in March 2015, Fred wrote the following about being a newspaper publisher: “It’s only temporary, with a beginning and end. And during your time, you can only hope the newspaper serves the community, readers and advertisers. For all these years I have guided this business with those simple principles. Today, when I stepped out of the driver seat for the last time, I can say I believe I had the best job in the world and have no regrets about how I spent half of my life.”
Every day we try to follow these principles in Fred’s footsteps and we hope he knew how much he meant to us.
Rest in peace Fred. We’ll make sure we make deadline.
-Michelle Nedved Publisher
‘It’s only temporary, with a beginning and end.’
Fred Willenbrock In his first editorial in 1986, and last editorial as owner of The Miner in 2015.
