Robert Hoag Rawlings

ROBERT HOAG RAWLINGS Bob Rawlings, Chairman and Editor of The Pueblo Chieftain and Sunday Chieftain and Pueblo Star-Journal, was born in Pueblo, Colo., on Aug. 3, 1924. He died on Friday, March 24, 2017. The son of John and Dorothy Hoag Rawlings, he was reared in Las Animas and graduated from Bent County High School in Las Animas in 1942. Bob matriculated at Colorado College in Colorado Springs in the fall of 1942 and in December 1942 enlisted in the United States Navy V-12 at the college. The following year he was transferred to the Navy ROTC unit at University of Colorado in Boulder where he subsequently received a commission as an Ensign in the Navy. He spent a year and one-half in the South Pacific as supply officer and later executive officer of the Subchaser 648, serving in Leyte Gulf, Mindanao, Subic Bay and Manila in the Philippine Islands, and in Brunei Bay and Kuching in the province of Sarawak, Borneo. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, he helped liberate from a Japanese prisoner of war camp near Kuching, Sarawak, more than 100 British and Dutch officers who had been imprisoned by the Japanese for five years. He often said that was the most difficult experience of his life, and he remained a patriot and supportive of the U.S. military throughout his life. He received an Honorable Discharge from the Navy in July 1946 and returned to Colorado College to graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1947. He started his career later that year as a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain, and The Pueblo Star-Journal. In 1951, he became an advertising salesman for the two newspapers; in 1962, he was named General Manager; in January of 1980, he was appointed Publisher and Editor; and in 1984, he was elected Chairman and Editor of The Star-Journal Publishing Corporation. The Pueblo Chieftain is the major daily newspaper in Southeastern Colorado and Colorado's oldest daily newspaper. Bob is a past Chairman of the Board of the Colorado Press Association; he was president of the Association in 1985-86. He is a member and past-chairman of the Colorado Bar-Press Committee; past president of Rocky Mountain Ad Manager's Association; and past president of The Colorado Associated Press. He is past-chairman of the Advisory Board of Colorado National Bank-Pueblo (now US Bank); a member of the Air Force Academy Foundation and the University of Southern Colorado Foundation. He is Chairman of the Medal of Honor Memorial Committee; and president of The Robert Hoag Rawlings Foundation and the Southern Colorado Community Foundation. A fierce advocate for Pueblo and Southern Colorado, Rawlings used his newspapers and their editorial pages to fight to protect Southeastern Colorado's water supply, as well as institutions such as Colorado State University-Pueblo and the Colorado State Fair. An outstanding athlete whose Las Animas High School basketball team won a state championship, Rawlings was accomplished at baseball, tennis and golf, which he played into his mid-80s. An avid spectator, he also sponsored semi-professional baseball teams (the Bighorns and the Chieftains), and was a founding member of the Friends of Football, a local group of university supporters who brought back football to CSU-Pueblo, a team that has won several Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles, and one national championship. Bob and Sandy (née Graham) were married on Oct. 18, 1947, in the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Morgan. The couple had four children, Jane (David Dill) Rawlings of Pueblo, John (Jan) Rawlings of San Diego, Calif., Callie (Ken) Temple of Durango, Colo., Bob (Amy Titus) Rawlings, Jr. of Ashland, Ore. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Leisa (Greg) Hicks of Buffalo, Mo., Leslie Dill of Yukon, Okla., Amy Dill of Fountain, Regan and Alexandra Rawlings, Luke (Samantha) Temple, Beth Temple (Adam) Beach and Josephine Rawlings. Also survived by numerous other great-grandchildren and cousins. He was predeceased by his wife, Sandy Rawlings, in May of 2013; brother, Col. John W. 'Jack' Rawlings (RET); sister, Dorothy 'Dorty' Nelson; cousins, Louise Evans Farr and Frank 'Bud' Evans. Viewing, 1 p.m. followed by the funeral service at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 30, 2017, both at First Presbyterian Church, 220 W. 10th St. Military honors and interment, Roselawn Cemetery. Those who desire may make memorials to Center for American Values, 101 S. Main St., Riverwalk Suite 100, Pueblo, CO 81003 or Sangre de Cristo Hospice, 1207 Pueblo Blvd Way, Pueblo, CO 81005. Online condolences, www.montgomerysteward.com