Helen Copley; San Diego UT obit
doubter
August 26, 2004
Helen K. Copley led The San Diego Union-Tribune and its predecessors for
nearly three decades.
Helen K. Copley, who rose to prominence in newspaper publishing and
philanthropy, died last night at her La Jolla home. She was 81.
The cause of death was pneumonia, from complications of a stroke.
Mrs. Copley published The San Diego Union-Tribune and its predecessors for
nearly three decades after the death of her husband James S. Copley in
1973. She retired in 2001 and turned over The Copley Press Inc. to her son,
David C. Copley.
"Not only was she a great Mom, but she was a great mentor, teacher and
colleague," David Copley said last night. "As she did, I will proudly keep
our newspapers going."
The Copley Press owns nine daily newspapers and other publications in
California, Illinois and Ohio. It also operates the Union-Tribune's Web
site, SignOnSanDiego.com.
During Mrs. Copley's tenure as publisher, her newspapers won two Pulitzer
Prizes.
She remained publisher emeritus of the newspaper and chairman emeritus of
the company.
"Helen had an extraordinary commitment to quality journalism. She respected
the craft and trusted the people she hired to make the right decisions,"
said Karin Winner, editor of the Union-Tribune. "She was rightly proud of
what she was able to accomplish in keeping the company family-owned and
cared deeply about every one of her employees. We will miss her greatly."
Over the years, Mrs. Copley's philanthropy ranged from helping secure a
home for the San Diego Symphony and underwriting the library at the
University of San Diego to being a major part of building a new animal
shelter.
She had been a member of numerous local organizations, most notably the
board of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation from 1973 to 1984.
Nationally, she was one of eight trustees appointed in 1984 to oversee the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a biomedical research and education
organization that grew to have an endowment of $11.3 billion last year. In
1985 the medical institute's board established a research center at the
University of California San Diego, involving researchers from the
university and the Salk Institute.
Literacy was one of Mrs. Copley's main causes. She helped launch the San
Diego Council on Literacy in 1986 and continued as a vital contributor.
Mrs. Copley was born Margaret Helen Kinney on Nov. 28, 1922, in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. After serving in the Navy WAVES in the 1940s, she married.
After the marriage ended, she moved with her mother to San Diego in 1951.
David was born in January a few months later.
Mrs. Copley landed a job at the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. by answering
an ad for a secretary in 1953. She was one of three secretaries to James
Copley, who had become chief executive officer in 1947 after the death of
his father, Col. Ira C. Copley, who started the company in Illinois in
1905.
In 1965, Helen and Jim Copley married.
Eight years later, her husband died of brain cancer. Most insiders expected
Mrs. Copley to remain in the background, but she was determined to keep the
business in family hands.
Encumbered by millions of dollars in inheritance taxes, she consolidated
the company's operations, reorganized the board of directors, and set out
to interview all 1,200 employees of the newspaper company.
Politically, Mrs. Copley shared her husband's conservative outlook and his
support for the Republican Party. Those views are reflected on the
editorial pages of Copley newspapers.
In the early 1990s, Mrs. Copley responded to economic pressures by merging
the morning The San Diego Union and afternoon Tribune.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which first published on Feb. 2, 1992, is the
third-largest newspaper in California. It is the 24th-largest newspaper in
the nation. Mrs. Copley was listed last year by Forbes magazine as 279th
among the nation's richest Americans, with assets estimated at $960
million.
She contributed millions of dollars to community causes.
Among them was a $2.5 million gift in 1990 to the beleaguered San Diego
Symphony. The gift helped clear $4.3 million in debts. Mrs. Copley gave
$500,000 more five years later.
In May 1998, the Copley family and the James S. Copley Foundation
contributed $1.5 million to the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art.
After reading in the Union-Tribune about deplorable conditions at a central
San Diego animal shelter, Mrs. Copley pledged $2 million to a rebuilding
campaign, joining with the late Joan Kroc, who also gave $2 million. The
Kroc-Copley Animal Shelter bears the two friends' names.
Mrs. Copley made her gift contingent on the city, county and private groups
contributing like amounts toward the $8 million cost of a state-of-the-art
facility. Providing matching grants for worthy public causes, Mrs. Copley
believed, encouraged donations from the people of San Diego.
Survivors include her son, David Copley, of La Jolla; a sister, Mary
Frances Davison of Santa Maria; and a brother, Frank E. Kinney of Cedar
Rapids, Iowa. She also has two stepchildren from her husband's first
marriage, Michael Copley of San Diego and Janice Obre of New York City.
Services will be private.
The family suggests donations to the Kroc-Copley Animal Shelter, 5480
Gaines St., San Diego, CA 92110. (Attention: director's office.)