Decatur Newspaperman Richard D. Brautigam, 85: Obituary

Richard D. Brautigam, 85, a journalist in Decatur for three decades, died Friday, May 11, surrounded by his family. Born Dec. 27, 1932, in Salem, Ohio, to the late Chester M. and Martha (Middleton) Brautigam, Mr. Brautigam served with distinction as an officer in the U.S. Air Force before embarking on a newspaper career that led him to Decatur. Mr. Brautigam served as Managing Editor of the Decatur Herald & Review until 1990.

Known to his family, friends and colleagues as Dick, Mr. Brautigam moved to Decatur in 1962 when he was recruited by Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers as a sports reporter. He was promoted to Sunday Editor in 1963, then Managing Editor of the morning Decatur Herald and the afternoon Decatur Daily Review. His tenure as Managing Editor extended through the 1979 merger of the two papers into the Herald & Review.

Mr. Brautigam was proud to have mentored many young reporters and to have served during an era when both newspapers were at their peak in circulation.

His former colleagues paid their respects and shared memories on the Herald & Review Facebook alumni page recently.

"In my 43-year tenure at that newspaper, no one had quite the universal respect of his peers as Dick. His professionalism was matched only by his humanity. You'll try in vain to find his equal," wrote Dick Zaker, a former copy editor at the paper.

"Dick was the best supervisor I have ever had," David Miller wrote. "We have lost a very good man."

"He was so much the soul of that newspaper for such a long time," added Jim Hopwood.

For Mr. Brautigam, kindness and leadership went hand in hand. They were inseparable elements of his character.

"A great journalist and even greater man. His kindly leadership nurtured many a career, including my own," wrote Bob Sampson.

"I was still in college when I started at the H&R as an obituary clerk," remembered Marsha Jannusch Fleming. "In the 35 years since, Dick was — plain and simple — the kindest person I've ever worked for or with. Even if he was mad (not that I ever really saw that) or frustrated, he always spoke in the most gentle manner. He made quite an impression on the 19-year-old clerk I was then."

"Dick was such a great man to work for. Always a laugh and a smile," wrote Randy Janes. "I usually worked about 10 feet from his office and even on frustrating days he would power through. Our loss is Heaven's gain."

Mr. Brautigam was a member of the Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) and was one of the journalists present in Orlando, Florida, when President Richard Nixon gave his historic "I'm not a crook" speech in 1973.

A newspaper job may have brought Mr. Brautigam to Decatur, but love and marriage would make Decatur his home. Mr. Brautigam married Charlyn Beauford at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Decatur on Feb. 27, 1965. They met in the newsroom. Together they raised two daughters, Marta Ellen and Charla Rose. Marta and Charla each followed in their parents' footsteps and became newspaper reporters.

Mr. Brautigam began his journalism career as a reporter for the Dayton Daily News in Ohio and later worked as sports editor for his hometown Salem News. Though he would spend the rest of his life in Illinois, Mr. Brautigam's Ohio roots made him a lifelong fan of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and Ohio State Buckeyes football and basketball teams.

"There was and is no more intense fan of the Cincinnati Reds than Dick Brautigam," added Miller in a post on the H&R alumni page. "Back in the hey day of the Big Red Machine in the 1970s with Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, etc., he enjoyed teasing the rest of us about how weak our favorite teams were in comparison to the Reds. He always did it good-naturedly and in fun."

Mr. Brautigam graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1955 with a degree in journalism after serving as Managing Editor of his college newspaper. He was president of his fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi, and was a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa scholarship and leadership honorary.

After college, Mr. Brautigam was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1955. He earned his navigator wings and was assigned to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in Plattsburgh, New York, flying B-47 Bomber reconnaissance missions over communist countries during the Cold War. Later in life, he would travel to China and Russia and see at street level some of the sites he once photographed at high altitude. Mr. Brautigam attended survival school at Stead Air Force Base in Reno, Nevada, and after three years of active duty between the Korean and Vietnam wars, he entered the Air Force Reserve with the rank of captain.

After a long newspaper career, Mr. Brautigam left print media in 1990 to accept a position in the legal section of the Department of Professional Regulation in Springfield. He retired in 1997. In retirement, Mr. Brautigam, his wife and their daughter would enjoy annual springtime visits to Paris, France, for many years.

Mr. Brautigam is survived by his wife of 53 years, Charlyn, his daughter Charla Brautigam-Robaugh and her husband Dennis Robaugh of Frankfort, Illinois. He was preceded in death by firstborn daughter Marta Ellen Brautigam-Margolis and unborn twin grandchildren, Lauren and Daniel, in 1997.

Also surviving are his brother Fred (Bonnie) Brautigam, sisters Janet Zeh, Shirley Brautigam and Carol Roher, all of Salem, Ohio, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mr. Brautigam was of the Methodist faith. Private family services will be held at a later date. Arrangements are by Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Home of Decatur.