A tribute to William T. Clew, 94, former CFP contributing editor

 
WORCESTER – William T. Clew, 94, a newspaper man for 65 years, died Monday, Dec. 18, leaving behind many family members, and co-workers he considered family.

He was contributing editor at The Catholic Free Press for 28 years, from 1991 to 2019. The CFP was his second career after spending 37 years at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

After living in Dudley for many years he spent the past four years at Eisenberg Assisted Living Residence, part of the Jewish Healthcare Center on Salisbury Street in Worcester.

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, Nov. 26, 1929, son of William J. and Mona Gallivan Clew. Bill was joined five years later by twins, Carole and Harvey, and, 17 years later, their sister Betsy was born.

The family grew up in Middletown, Connecticut, and belonged to St. John Parish where he and his brother were altar boys. He went to Middletown High School where he set records in swimming.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1952 from Hillyer College of the University of Hartford, where he excelled in athletics. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, and, as he liked to tell, played baseball in Bordeaux, France, during his tour of duty during the Korean War.

Sports continued to be part of his life into his later years. He won many medals in national and local Senior Games in skiing, swimming, track and field, basketball and volleyball.

His father was also a newsman, working for The Hartford Courant for 50 years and retiring as its managing editor. His mother was a teacher.
Mr. Clew joined the T&G Oct. 3, 1954, as a reporter in the Fitchburg bureau. When his career began, the company published three newspapers - the Worcester Telegram in the morning, The Evening Gazette in the afternoon and The Sunday Telegram.

He worked for several years in the regional bureaus before joining The Evening Gazette city staff.  As a Gazette reporter, he covered major beats, including the Statehouse and City Hall.

Mr. Clew was sincerely interested in people and their stories. Wherever he traveled, he would find the “Worcester connection” and bring back the news.
In November 1959, he went to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, where the U.S. Naval Air Facility was being developed into a scientific research facility. He was among the first 500 Westerners to visit the frozen continent. The “Worcester connection” there was that the chief scientist at the South Pole station earned his doctorate at Clark University and the commander of the team that built the station was a Navy lieutenant from Auburn.

He became regional editor at the T&G in 1980. It was as regional editor that perhaps Mr. Clew had his greatest impact.

“Bill used his job as regional editor at the T&G … to assemble an extremely talented group of very competitive people and managed to have them work together (mostly harmoniously). More amazingly, over four-plus decades since he began that assignment he knitted many of those colleagues together from far and near in our mutual friendship with him – one of the kindest, most interesting fellows to walk the Earth,” former T&G reporter Madeline Patton said this week.

He coached countless reporters who will always remember his wisdom, patience, and steady guidance. Those qualities were named in numerous letters of nomination that led to his induction into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2018.

Former T&G Executive Editor Karen A. Webber – who maintained a long friendship with Mr. Clew and shared the same birthday – said in her nomination that for many he was “a cheerleader or wise counselor when you need it most.” She added that his “caring and kindness have touched many.”
 
“Bill Clew should be credited with ‘all newspapering is local,’” said Thomasine Berg in her nomination letter.  

“Few editors have had such a positive impact on so many young writers. … He instilled a sense of duty to the reader in writing, accuracy, and engagement,” Jan Brogan wrote.

“Bill has used his years of experience to guide many a young reporter or intern at The Catholic Free Press. Even those of us ‘grey-hairs’ who have been in the business for a while, turn to him for advice,” said Margaret Russell, executive editor of The Catholic Free Press.

In his typical humble manner, Mr. Clew told a Telegram reporter of the honor, “I don’t think I deserve it, but I am very, very grateful to get it.”

According to a T&G story, the press association citation read: “Bill embodies the qualities we seek and applaud in journalists – a curiosity about people and events; an ability to listen, a simple, unwavering dedication to revealing truth; courage. Bill hired and trained legions of journalists who work around the country, his influence reaching far, far beyond his own fine work reporting and editing. He was kind, yet tough, he demanded accuracy and thoroughness from his staff, held to extremely high standards, expecting all to respect reporting as a higher calling, because he did.”

A year after Mr. Clew was named managing editor of the Sunday Telegram, 1990, he left to join The Catholic Free Press. Gerard Goggins, a former T&G colleague, was the editor at the time.

Mr. Clew retired a month before his 90th birthday, in 2019. 

He often quoted his father who told him about working in the news business, “You’ll never be rich, and you’ll never be popular.” But he was both rich in friendship and popular to the end.

The week before he died, Mr. Clew said he considered all the people he worked with – and the many he hired – as his family. He marveled, in a conversation with Mrs. Russell, that those relationships have lasted more than 40 years. He was frequently an honored guest in many homes and at impromptu lunches.

“I have loved keeping in touch with Bill since my husband, Terry Williams and I left the T&G in 1989. Bill was definitely an extension of our family and took great interest in our sons,” Gayle Taylor Williams said.
 
Mr. Clew was the subject of a daily devotional piece Mrs. Williams wrote prefaced by the Scripture verse from 1 Timothy, “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
She wrote: “There are many reasons why Bill is known by many as “the best boss ever” – he was exceedingly kind, wise, supportive, honest and unselfish and encouraged those who reported to become leaders, as well. But mostly, it was Bill’s ability to be a servant leader at work that made him an inspiration to many.”

His sister Betsy had her own “best” title for him. She said that he was a wonderful supporter of his siblings, nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews in all their academic and sporting activities. He also supported their artistic endeavors, listening to a cappella groups, orchestras and attending plays and musicals that his nieces and nephews participated in. “Bill did not have children of his own but he was THE BEST UNCLE ever born!”
 
Mr. Clew is survived by his sister Carole Clew Hoey, Essex, Connecticut, and her children Lesley Hoey, Portland, Maine, and Ned Hoey, Santa Cruz, California; his sister Betsy (Bob) Kampmeinert, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and their children Sarah (Stuart)  K. Britton, New York City, and Lindsey (Michael) K. Fitzgibbons, San Francisco, California.  

In addition, he is survived by the children of his deceased brother and sister-in law Harvey and Joy Clew, Timothy (Jaime) Clew, Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, and Carole (Rob) Clew Elms, New York City; grand nieces and nephews Logan and Esmee Clew-Bachrach, Taylor, Maya and Parker Elms, Sophia and Luke Britton and Nate and Alex Fitzgibbons.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 6, at Christ the King Parish, 1052 Pleasant St., Worcester. A private burial will be at a later date in Middletown.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 3 Speen St., Suite 250, Framingham, MA 01701 or to Eisenberg Assisted Living, 631 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609.