Frank Leeming died February 25, 2023
Frank Leeming, editor and publisher of the Journal of the San Juan Islands from 1983 to 1992, died February 25, 2023 at home. He was 84 years old and had lived in Hot Springs Village, Ark., since he and his wife, Joyce, sold the Journal and retired in 1992.
Mr. Leeming worked as a reporter, editor and publisher of both weekly and daily newspapers for nearly half a century.
After graduating from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mr. Leeming became a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for seven years. He was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Leeming was a correspondent for Life magazine and became editorial editor of the Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers in Decatur, Ill. In November 1971, Mr. Leeming was named business editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He later became city editor and assistant to the executive editor. In 1976, he became circulation sales and marketing manager for both the Inquirer and its sister newspaper, the Philadelphia Daily News.
Two years later, Mr. Leeming was named publisher of the Kingsport (Tenn.) Times-News. In 1982 and 1983, the newspaper was judged the best large-circulation newspaper in Tennessee.
In October 1983, the Leemings purchased The Journal and moved to Friday Harbor to publish the weekly newspaper. They sold their paper and their commercial printing company, Harbor Press, in 1992 and retired to Hot Springs Village, the largest gated community in the nation.
Mr. Leeming became vice president of the Village Concerts Association, the largest in the nation with more than 2,700 members, and a director of the Village Community Foundation. In 2005, he became editor of the Hot Springs Village Voice, a weekly newspaper serving the community. He was editor of the paper until 2008.
Four years later, he was elected to the board of directors of the Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association representing 34,000 property owners.
In his career, Mr. Leeming was a member of the American Newspaper Publishers Association, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, National Conference of Editorial Writers and served as a director of the Tennessee and Washington state press associations.
Mr. Leeming and his wife have five children – William C. (Dusty) Leeming and Scott (Barbara) Leeming in Friday Harbor; Patricia (Ron) Barrett in Charlotte, N.C.;, Frank Leeming III in Waynesville, N.C., and Lewis C. Leeming in Haskell, Ark. They have six grandchildren.
No services were held at Mr. Leeming’s request.