John Ronald of Portland, age 73, passed away on April 23, 2022, at his home, following a brief illness.

Jack was born in Portland on November 17, 1948, to Hugh and Sara (Haynes) Ronald. He attended Portland High School and graduated with the Class of 1966, and received his bachelor's degree from Earlham College in 1970. He was married on June 19, 1971, to his wife Connie Frank, who survives.

For 46 years, Jack worked for The Commercial Review, starting in 1974, becoming editor in 1977, and publisher in 1982. His connection to the newspaper runs deeper than that, as his parents launched the weekly newspaper The Graphic — which later acquired The Commercial Review — on his first birthday on November 17, 1949, and his early memories include proofreading pages of the Dunkirk News and Sun. Jack also served as president of The Graphic Printing Company from 1985 until his death. While he officially retired from The Commercial Review in July 2020, he continued to write a regular column and assist whenever necessary. Over the years, his columns and editorials won numerous first-place awards from the Inland Daily Press Association and the Hoosier State Press Association. Following his retirement, Jack worked as an English-language copyeditor for The Irrawaddy, a Burmese news outlet.

Jack was an active member of the Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors and the Hoosier State Press Associations. He taught journalism at Earlham College as an adjunct professor for several years, served as judge for multiple California Newspaper Publishers Association contests, was awarded Ball State University's Indiana Journalism Award in 2004 and was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2014, he received the Charlie Biggs Commitment to Community Award from the Hoosier State Press Association.

Jack's journalistic work went from the most local of Jay County events to the worldwide stage, beginning with his photos of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, which were displayed at the "Victors" exhibit at Ball State University in 1993. He was an advocate of press freedom both at home and in the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe and Central and Southeast Asia. He was selected as a Fulbright Specialist and assigned to Moldova in 1998. He, his wife and daughter Sara lived in Chisinau, Moldova, for six months, where he taught at the State University of Moldova and worked with the Independent Journalism Center, consulting for editors and publishers of regional newspapers as they pursued independence from government and political parties.

Since that time, he taught at universities and mentored journalists in 12 different countries, including Moldova, Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Kazakhstan and Belarus. His handbook, "A Path Toward Independence: Principles of Newspaper Management for Central Asia," published by the International Center for Journalists, has been translated into Russian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik. His advocacy for independent newspapers in former Soviet nations resulted in one nation placing him on a blacklist as "persona non grata," which got him deported on arrival on one occasion.

Jack was deeply involved in the Jay County community, serving at different times as member and president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, member and president of Portland Rotary Club, member and president of The Portland Foundation, member and president of the Jay County AIDS Task Force, member of the board of trustees and trustee emeritus of the Minnetrista Cultural Center, member of the board of the John Jay Center for Learning and member of the board of Arts Place.

In 1995, he was named a Paul Harris Fellow at Rotary. In 2007, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2010, he received the Lee. G. Hall Memorial Award from United Way of Jay County. In September 2017, Jack was inducted into the Circle of Corydon, an award for Hoosiers who have made remarkable contributions to the betterment of Indiana and its people.

In between The Commercial Review, his journalism advocacy and his community involvement, Jack found time to write and publish poetry, draw, take photographs and write fiction, including 30 years' worth of Christmas stories for his daughters. Several of his poems have appeared in "The Lyric" and "The Measure," and a sketch of Jay County won an award at the Randolph County Art Show.

Jack enjoyed live theater, particularly the performances at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. He and his wife made time to travel together, visiting Barcelona, Prague, Florence, Paris, South Africa, Alaska and, most recently, Rome. He loved football and baseball, especially the Fort Wayne TinCaps, art and Indiana artists, reading fiction and playing with his grandchildren. He enjoyed music, saw many live performances (including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cream, and Led Zeppelin) and in recent years joined friends to play concerts at Miller's Merry Manor in Dunkirk on several occasions.

Jack enjoyed a wide range of music, from blues and soul to Europop and international music. He was especially pleased to play a part in putting ukuleles in the hands of all Jay County fifth graders.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughters Margaret Ronald of Watertown, Massachusetts (husband: Joshua Lawton), Emily Ronald of Waltham, Massachusetts (husband: Michael Veloso), and Sara (Sally) Ronald of Bloomington, Indiana (husband: Benjamin Lawson); one brother, Steve Ronald (wife: Beth) of Minneapolis, Minnesota; two sisters, Linda Ronald of Charlotte, North Carolina (husband: Steven Butler), and Louise Ronald of Richmond, Indiana; five grandchildren, Julian, Johanna, Gabriel, Beatrice and Cora; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

A celebration of Jack's life will be held on June 18th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at Arts Place with a Celebration of Life Service at 4:00 PM.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Ronald Family Endowment at the Portland Foundation.

Arrangements are being handled by Baird Freeman Funeral Home and condolences may be expressed at bairdfreeman.com.