The "Lancaster's Statesman" Story

Mr. Willis W. Shenk, Lancaster Newspaper Photo

It was an ordinary day.  The accolades have all been recited and the pats on the back have all been made. The legacy of Willis W. Shenk will live on in the city of Lancaster County.  As for me, I guess I can be thankful that I at least had the honor to shake the man's hand just a few years ago at the Parish Resource Center on Community Way.  At the time I didn't realize how much an icon Mr. Shenk really was, but that all changed this morning when I read the page and a half story about the former Chairman of the Board of Steinman Enterprises which owns Lancaster Newspapers.  That, and the full page obituary which proclaimed him to be one of the most respected men in the city of Lancaster over the last century.  Willis, as most called him, died a few days ago at the age of 97.  He had officially retired in 2004 as the Chairman of the Board of Lancaster Newspapers, but still visited his office weekly on the fourth floor of the newspaper building at 8 West King St. in downtown Lancaster.  The interview he gave with Jack Brubaker in the winter of 2013 was the last he would give.  A man of humble upbringings who was the first in his farm family to graduate from high school, Willis left the farm life and began a career in bookkeeping in nearby Manheim after graduation from high school.  The business he worked for closed during the Depression so he worked as an auditor and tax preparer at an accounting firm in Lancaster.  He enjoyed working with numbers so he took a leave from that job to enter New York University to take accounting courses.  A few short months later he saw an ad for a newspaper job in the Lancaster Newspaper and was hired to work in the accounting department.  Lancaster Newspapers was started in 1866 when Andrew Jackson Steinman bought the business.  He was succeeded by his two sons, the last of whom died in 1980.  It was in 1983, after many years toiling in a variety of positions at the newspaper, Willis Shenk was named Chairman of the Board of Steinman Enterprises, the first non-member of the Steinman family to carry that honor.  During his tenure he saw the paper evolve from using the hot-lead method of composition and letterpress printing to computer generated composition and the Flexography method of printing.  He also made the decision to keep the company in downtown Lancaster rather than move it to nearby Manheim Township where Intelligencer Printing now resides.  I believe that probably saved the town of Lancaster, PA from going the route that many towns in the country have gone over the last 30 years.    As for my role in all of this, I can remember meeting Mr. Shenk for the first time while he was lounging on a sofa in the great room of The Parish Resource Center, where my wife is part of the administrative staff, a couple of years ago.  An anniversary celebration was going on for the center and for those who were responsible for the beginning and welfare of the non-profit center through their contributions and donations.  Steinman Enterprises and Lancaster Newspapers were major contributors, and remain that way today, for the upkeep and general operation of the Parish Resource Center, which is a non-denominational center for congregational development.  I was introduced to him by Sally, my wife's boss at the time and he stood and greeted me.  Instantly reminded me of my dad, both in size and stature as well as mildness and kindness.  I told him my wife was Sally's secretary and he commented to me how lovely a person she was.  I agreed with him, naturally.  We only exchanged conversation for a short time, but I knew through that meeting that this man was something special in the lives of those he knew.  So sorry I didn't get to know him better, but at least I got to shake the hand of one of Lancaster's great statesmen.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.