Jerry O'Brien memorialized in Hall of Fame

Intermountain Catholic

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The children of Jerry and Donna O'Brien, John, Jim, Joan, and Tim, accept the Hall of Fame certificate commemorating their father at the Utah Press Association Convention March 25. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

ST. GEORGE — Paul J.G. "Jerry" O’Brien, the seventh publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune, was inducted into the Utah Press Association’s (UPA) Utah Newspaper Hall of Fame in a ceremony March 25 at their annual winter convention in St. George.

The Utah Press Association, the state’s oldest professional association, reserves membership in its Hall of Fame, which is housed in a display in the Utah State Capitol, to outstanding members dead 10 or more years. In 1999, the UPA inducted Msgr. William McDougall, former reporter for the Associated Press, the Salt Lake Telegram, and retired editor of the Intermountain Catholic, into the Hall of Fame.

The presentation, written by Jim Cornwell and delivered by Richard Buys, publisher of the Wasatch Wave, honored O’Brien for his ability to take on multiple responsibilities, his concern for quality, and his dedication to the Tribune readers and advertisers.

John W. "Jack" Gallivan, O’Brien’s predecessor as publisher of the Tribune, "brought him into Utah’s daily newspaper management as assistant to the publisher in 1963," Buys said. "O’Brien delighted in relating details of the job offer: ‘Jack asked me if I’d like to do what he did. And I asked, ‘What do you do?’ He said, ‘Worry.’ And I said, ‘I can do that.’"

The presentation was filled with fond memories called up by O’Brien’s Tribune colleagues, including editorial Cartoonist Pat Bagley: "What I remember most about him was his humility and his humanity. He was a genuinely nice guy. Though he had a ferocious drive to make the paper the best it could be, he always dealt with me as a person, not as an employee. Discussions about weighty issues could veer of into sympathetic inquiries into your health or well-being at the drop of a hat. Partly as a result of the affection we felt for him, he was able to draw out our best efforts."

"Staff members felt he was perhaps too kind to be a tough disciplinarian," O’Brien’s successor, Dominic Welch, was quoted as saying. "But they also knew he could make his critical objections heard in spite of his gentle nature... There was no doubt, in any event, that he took a dim view of mediocre reporting and of errors in print."

Retired head photographer for the Salt Lake Tribune Deacon Lynn R. Johnson, told the Intermountain Catholic: "Jerry O’Brien was not the sort of Catholic who wore his faith on his sleeve. It was deep, an integral part of the man."

Gallivan said, "Jerry taught us modesty, loyalty, dedication, and integrity," and cited O’Brien’s wonderful sense of humor.

In accepting the Hall of Fame certificate for their late father, John O’Brien, speaking for himself and his three siblings, Joan and Thomas of Salt Lake City and James of Orlando, Fla., said, "although Dad has been gone 12 years now, not a day goes by that we don’t think of him and remember him with love."

Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, diocesan administrator, said he, too, remembers O’Brien fondly. "This is a wonderful honor for him, and long overdue."