Charles Senour "Charley" Stough III

News Death Notice

STOUGH III, Charles "Charley" Senour a well-known writer and author, artist, and self-described "chief copyboy," died Nov. 22 at Miami Valley Hospital as a result of complications from cancer treatment. He was 67. Mr. Stough retired in 2001 from the Dayton Daily News after 28 years, where he worked primarily as a copy editor. In the 1970s and '80s, he compiled and edited the popular Dayton Daily Newsletter column, a daily collection of interesting and offbeat news items filtered through Mr. Stough's trademark wit, honed from years of newspapering in small newspapers out West. Born in Jacksonville, Ala., to Jeanne Flynn Stough and the late Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles Senour Stough, Mr. Stough attended Arizona State University after graduation from high school. At ASU he published an off-campus humor magazine Savant, and enlisted in the Peace Corps from 1964 to 1966, serving in Panama. He returned to St. Mary's University in San Antonio. In 1968 he and H. Alicia Agredo were married in Panama City, Republic of Panama. The Stoughs moved to Texas, where he worked for the Houston Post, leaving in 1969 for the San Antonio Light. The young family moved to Sunnyslope, AZ., where Mr. Stough was editor and publisher of the weekly Sage newspaper (with the motto "The Only Newspaper You Can Open Up in a High Wind or On A Horse"), founded in 1955 by his grandfather, Charles Stough I. The paper was sold in 1971, but Mr. Stough stayed on through the transition of new ownership. An editorial he wrote about his then-young son's proclivity toward the work done by the trash collector was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. While at Sage, Mr. Stough also worked as education writer and magazine editor for the Scottsdale (AZ) Progress. "A healthy line of defunct papers in my pedigree, no?" hhe wrote in 2000 at a reunion of Post retirees where he also signed copies of his newly self-published novel, Warm Spit, A Novel of Texas Crime and Culture. In January 1972 he began working at the Casa Grande (AZ) Dispatch as a photographer before being named managing editor in March of that year. His family moved to Dayton in 1973. In the former Dayton Daily News newsroom at 45 S. Ludlow St., Mr. Stough was known for wearing an old-time copy editor's green eyeshade and, in the days before indoor smoking was banned, chomping a cigar. He was active in newspaper union activity, and likened himself to a guardian of the "old school" of journalism. And though he decried what he described as "yuppie" newsroom management, Mr. Stough was ahead of his time working in social media. Perhaps his more enduring and endearing work, at least to those in the journalism industry, was the long-running BONG (Burned Out Newspaper- creatures Guild) Bull, a syndicated newsletter of journal- istic lore. BONG was a venting place for newspaper types all over the world. Its recurring scripted "Comix Section" featured "The Further Adven- tures of Herman 'Speed' Graphic, Ace Photographer for the Chagrin Falls Commercial Scimitar, and his Faithful Companion, Typo the Wonder Pig." Sometimes appearing in the panels was Lifestyle Editor Hyperba Lee. When he wasn't working on a newspaper or blog, Mr. Stough found time to volunteer two decades with Dayton's World A-Fair inter- national festival, serving as its president in 1986. In addition to authoring Warm Spit, which was released in Dayton at the former Wilkies Book Store, he co-authored several other books, and just prior to his death finished a manuscript The Second Life of Lazarus, which the family plans to have published. Mr. Stough also served as a VISTA Volunteer at The Food Bank, Inc.; and was a counselor with the Ohio Benefit Bank providing citizens pro bono eligibility assistance for various social, health and financial services. He served as an interpreter and Spanish translator in federal immigration courts. Mr. Stough's lifelong interest in art led him to paint in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, and more recently, to digital art. In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Stough is survived by son Geo. Paul Stough and daughter Gina Alicia Stough; grandchildren Erika Elaine Stephens, Isaiah (Isai) Xavier Morales, Jessica Rose Steinkruger, Alicia Jeanne Stough, and Cruz Alexander Ambrose- Stough; one brother, Stevan R. Stough; and nephew Matthew Stough. Mr. Stough donated his body to Wright State University Medical School. A memorial will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Christ Episcopal Church, 20 W. First St. For more information, call (937) 223-2239. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to CityHeart Ministry of Christ Episcopal Church, cityheart@christepiscopal.com.