C. Donald Hatfield

C. DONALD HATFIELD, long-time newspaper writer, editor, and publisher, died after a brief illness in Huntington WV on Sunday, March 8, 2026 at the age of 90.
Hatfield served as president, publisher, and editor of the Huntington WV Herald-Dispatch from 1982 to 1986 and as president, publisher, and editor of the Tucson AZ Citizen from 1986 until his retirement in 2000.
He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Proctor.
He was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Sandra Soto Hatfield, and by their three children, Lisa, Chris, and Joel.
Additional survivors include his first wife's sister, Shirley Lusk of Westbrook, CT; sister-in-law Josephine Hatfield of Mansfield, Ohio; niece Stefanie Hatfield Salzmann of Sterling VA, brother-in-law Jim Michel of Huntington; his first wife's niece, Lesley Lusk Byrne of Glastonbury CT, and by a special family friend, Tammy Stewart of Huntington. He was predeceased by a half-brother, Howard Hatfield, of Mansfield.
"Don" Hatfield was born in Huntington in 1935, the son of Howard and LaUna Wilson Hatfield. He graduated with honors from Huntington Vinson High School where he participated in football, basketball, and baseball, setting a batting record of .606 that remained for 20 years until broken. He graduated from Marshall University and later was named to its W. Page Pitt School of Journalism Hall of Fame. He also attended the American Press Institute at Columbia University.
His 47-year newspaper career began shortly after he graduated from high school in 1953 when at the age of 18 he became a sportswriter for the Huntington Advertiser, then that city's afternoon newspaper. After seven years in the sports department, he moved to the news side as assistant wire news editor. Over the next 26 years he served as assistant news editor, Sunday managing editor, Advertiser managing editor, executive editor of the merged Advertiser and Herald-Dispatch, and beginning in 1982 as president, publisher, and editor. Three years later he was also named a regional vice president for the eastern region of Gannett Co., Inc., then the nation's largest newspaper group, and was responsible for newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
In 1986 he was named publisher and editor of the Tucson AZ Citizen and regional vice president of Gannett's southwestern newspapers in El Paso and Sante Fe as well as a USA Today print and distribution center in Chandler AZ. He also served as a member of the board of directors of Tucson Newspapers Inc., the joint agency which produced both morning and afternoon newspapers in Tucson.
Following his retirement from newspapers, Hatfield accepted the position of vice president of corporate and foundation development at the University of Arizona Foundation, holding that position until his second retirement in 2006. In 2008 he and his first wife returned to Huntington to be with family.
He wrote and published many magazine articles and short stories over the years, and produced three books: "Don Hatfield Cleans Out His Attic," a collection of his Huntington newspaper columns, in 1985; "A Pocketful of Cinders," a collection of short stories, in 2011; and "Newspaperman: a Memoir," in 2018, which was well received. He served as visiting professor at the University of Texas, spoke at several other universities including Northwestern, the University of Arizona, the University of Kentucky, and Marshall University, and served as guest professional in four appearances at the American Press Institute in Reston VA.
He received many honors including the Whitney Young Humanitarian Award from the Tucson Urban League, Citizen of the Year by the Tucson Volunteer Council, and was honored with his first wife by Arizona's Pima College for contributions to the community. In 2001 he was elected to the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame.
He was a member of several professional organizations, serving on the board and as treasurer of the Associated Press Managing Editors Assn. (in which he was a regent until his death), as a director of both the West Virginia and Arizona newspaper associations (and as president of the latter), as a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the American Newspaper Publishers Assn., and as president of the Tri-State chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
He was active in the communities of both Huntington and Tucson. He served on the board and then as chairman of the University of Arizona Foundation, as a national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., and on the boards of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, Huntington United Way, Salvation Army, Marshall Alumni Association, Huntington Museum of Art (most recently as trustee emeritus), United Way of Tucson, Tucson Museum of Art, Greater Tucson Economic Council, and co-chaired with his first wife the Dean's Council of the Marshall University College of Fine Arts.
As a writer, editor, publisher and executive of newspapers for 47 years, Hatfield followed the highest standards of ethics and in seeking out the truth. He fought throughout his career on both local and national levels for the rights of minorities in the daily practice of news coverage and in hiring and promoting. He hired the first African-American news staff member in the history of Huntington newspapers shortly after becoming managing editor in 1972. He headed the APME Minorities Committee for two terms in the 1970s. He took great satisfaction in helping to develop young journalists and watching as they moved on to successful careers. He felt greatly rewarded when many kept in touch with him through the years.
He was devoted to family, to his first wife and their children, and to his second wife, all of whom he loved dearly. He cared greatly for his friends, many of whom had worked with him and for him. He enjoyed books (especially the works of Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez), all forms of music, theater, art, dance, fine dining and fine wine, travel (especially to Paris), the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Arizona Wildcats. He remained a positive person in spite of tragic losses which came his way, and possessed a great sense of humor.
He remained proud to be a newspaper man to the end of his life. He never forgot those who worked with him, and often said he learned more from them than they did from him. He was grateful for whatever praise he and his newspapers received, and willingly accepted the criticism that invariably comes to newspaper men and women. In all circumstances he firmly believed in and extolled the importance of clear and objective journalism.
Visitation and a memorial service will be announced at a later date. Contributions may be made to the C. Donald Hatfield and Sandra Soto Hatfield Scholarship Endowment at Marshall University, the Huntington Museum of Art, the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Foundation / Memphis Tennessee Garrison House, and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University.