Charles E. Hayes—former Headline Club president, Chicago Tribune real estate editor and suburban news leader—died on Feb. 4, at age 88. He served as the executive editor and editor-in-chief of Paddock Publication’s chain of newspapers, which went from weekly to daily publications during his career.
In the Tribune obituary, former Surburban Trib reporter Sam Freedman said: “Chuck Hayes was way ahead of his time in understanding the complexity of suburbia and giving it the deep and nuanced journalistic coverage it deserved…In his years leading (the) Suburban Trib, Chuck set such a high standard that newspapers such as the Miami Herald and the New York Times took note of his model in improving their own suburban coverage.”
Susan S. Stevens, president of the Chicago Headline Club Foundation, shared this remembrance:
“When Hayes was Chicago Headline Club president, he officiated over a candle-lit ceremony inducting the first women into the Society of Professional Journalists. That was in late-1969, when Chicago became the first chapter to admit women,” Stevens wrote. “I was one of them. So were about a dozen others, including advice columnist Ann Landers and Marilyn Moats Kennedy who rose to become the first female CHC president in 1976-77 while she taught at DePaul University.”
Thanks to Chuck for all his years of service. Read more about his life and long journalism career here.