MCCARROLL, John H.

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ May 9, 1974, p. 1 Services Set For John McCarroll Former Sun Publisher Dies Memorial services are pending for former Sun newspaper publisher John H. McCarroll. He died Tuesday afternoon May 7, at the Wickenburg Community Hospital. McCarroll, 75, and his wife Berniece, purchased the Wickenburg Sun January 1944 and published the weekly newspaper for 29 years. They sold their interest in the paper July 1, 1973. McCarroll was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, September 15, 1898. He attended Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa and at the age of 20, owned and published a newspaper in Colo, Iowa. Later he worked as a copy writer for an advertising agency until he was appointed Advertising manager of Bankers Live Insurance Company. He worked for Bankers Life for 19 years. During that time he also served as manager of an early day radio station, WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. He and his wife Berniece were married in 1928. He was a veteran of World War I and a member of the American Legion, Elks Lodge 2160 of Wickenburg, and a charter member of Desert Caballeros. He was Past president of the Life Insurance Advertisers Association and active in the Arizona Newspaper Association. McCarroll is survived by his wife, Berniece, two sisters, Mrs. Mary McCarroll Keefe of Chandler; and Mrs. C. D. Sadler of Indiana, Indiana; a nephew Thomas Keefe III of Phoenix and several nieces and nephews out of state. Contributions to the Wickenburg Community Hospital in lieu of flowers are requested. IN MEMORIAM July 1, 1973, John McCarroll sold his and his wife’s interest in Sunland Publications, owner of the Wickenburg Sun newspaper. John published the Sun for 29 years. When he finally retired he was 74 yearrs old. In his latter years as Editor and Publisher of the Sun, John earned a reputation as crusty and sharply spoken. His character was a local legend and, I believe, John on occasion fostered that legend. He was fond of talking about his days as a “printer’s devil” at a small newspaper in the Mid-west. He would describe the fiery, short-tempered editor of that newspaper, “I feared and admired that man,” John once told me. Many local people fretted over John’s irascible character, but those who knew him best and cared for him, knew it was mostly bluff. John’s wrath was frequently raised against those who attempted to overwhelm him, for he privately was easily moved and touched by the plights and perils of people he barely knew. John believed in the time-worn principles of news integrity and he held true to those principles. He was an editor and publisher in the tradition of 100 years ago. I think he hoped that, like the editor he served as a youth, he would be “feared and admired.” He was. JH