Indiana University School of Journalism

Home » News » Sentinel publisher Overmyer dies

Courtesy photo

Rochester News-Sentinel publisher Jack K. Overmyer looks over an issue of the paper in this archival photo. He died last week after decades working in journalism, most at the Sentinel.

Related Read an obituary from the News-Sentinel. Read Overmyer's entry at the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame Web site. School mourns loss of Beth Wood (Nov. 15)

Owner and president of The Rochester Sentinel Jack K. Overmyer, 85, died May 21 after a life spent in journalism and in devotion to his Fulton County hometown.

Overmyer, ’46, was managing editor of The Rochester News-Sentinel and Sentinel from 1952 to 1966. He became editor and publisher in 1966, president of The Sentinel Corp. in 1970 and assumed full ownership of the newspaper in July 1976. He had started working at the newspaper as a high school student.

At IU, Overmyer was an athletic information director; president of his social fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon; president of the campus chapter of professional journalism fraternity, Sigma Delta Chi; and a member of the Blue Key and Skull and Crescent honorary organizations. He was sports editor of the Indiana Daily Student campus newspaper and the Arbutus yearbook.

In an article, "Ernie Pyle: A Hoosier Worth Remembering," published in the Sentinel Dec. 13, 1994, Overmyer recalled that the World War II correspondent also was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. When Pyle came to IU in November 1944 to receive his honorary degree, he stopped by the SAE house for a visit. That visit remained "one of my fondest and brightest memories," Overmyer wrote.

Overmyer was author of A Stupendous Effort: The 87th Indiana in the War of the Rebellion, which traced Fulton County soldiers in the Civil War. He wrote and published three other books, all compilations of his speeches and pieces from his long-running Sentinel column, “Considered Comment.” His final Sentinel column ran three days before his death.

Overmyer’s newspaper career began as sports editor for The Rochester News-Sentinel prior to his senior year in high school. He remained on staff as general news reporter for a year after high school graduation, then enrolled at Indiana University in May 1942. He worked at the Indianapolis Star as a sportswriter for six years before rejoining the News-Sentinel.

Overmyer was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999.