Hall of Fame career spanned 68 years

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

A stalwart of the Cassville community, recognized for his efforts as a longtime newspaper editor and community leader, died on Nov. 7.

Bob Mitchell, 94, was editor of the Cassville Democrat from 1953-1995, and he continued contributing to the editorial pages until 2022. He was inducted in the Missouri Southern State University Regional Media Hall of Fame and Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame in 2017, and he leaves a legacy of ushering the Cassville community forward in industry and philanthropy, all while taking great pride in his family and Christianity.

Many family trees have generations of roots in the Cassville and Barry County area, but not all go back as far as Mitchell’s, whose family covered Barry County like the morning dew for more than a century over four generations.

Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, Mitchell began his adult life by shipping off to the U.S. Navy, where his long and illustrious journalism career saw its humble beginnings.

Mitchell enlisted in 1949, going to boot camp in San Diego, Calif., then Navy Journalism School at Naval Station Great Lakes in Chicago. He followed that education up with public relations school at Fort Hueneme in California, then joined the Atlantic Fleet at its headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

In a 2016 interview for Connection Magazine, Mitchell discussed his time in the military and at home afterward, declining a possible stationing in Paris to help continue his family’s legacy in Cassville.

“I did writing, PR and a lot of photography in the Navy,” Mitchell said. “At one time or another, we had 31 correspondents filing copy through the office in Tokyo I was stationed at. I got to work with some of best newspapermen in the world, and I got two or three really good assignments.”

Mitchell said the best story he ever got to cover was the recovery of the first downed MIG.

“I was in the photo lab one day, then sent out on photo mission,” he said. “It required lots of film and at least two cameras. There was a [dock landing ship] underway out there, and that’s where I was going, and they said I’ll find out more about the mission when I was aboard ship.

“I got there and went straight up top side to the captain’s quarters, and he explained the MIG was shot down in waters near North Korea, and some smaller craft were recovering it under cover of two Canadian Destroyers.”

Mitchell said once he got out to the site, conditions were not what he had expected.

“The next morning, I got up, and it was so foggy you could cut it,” he said. “It was too foggy for pictures, so the next morning I got up early, and everything they had recovered was on the ship covered in canvas. I went up to the chief petty officer involved with the salvage and told him I had to get pictures.

“I took pictures of everything, and then an Army major, who was also an intelligence officer, got on me and the petty officer pretty good for uncovering the parts and photographing them. He told me to turn over my film, and I said, ‘No sir. I’m just acting on orders. This is Navy film.’

“We went back to the captain and the major asked again to have the film. The captain said to turn it over to him and he would put in a safe until we got back, then let the admiral make the determination. Sure enough, the admiral was waiting on us and went up and got the film.”

Mitchell also got to meet some big names during his service, including a former president.

“I was in Key West, [Fla.], when Harry Truman vacationed there,” Mitchell said. “Charlie Ross was Truman’s press secretary, and he was buddies with my uncle, Means Ray. The White House press corps was there doing Navy press briefings, so I went one day and everyone was standing around the lobby, asking what’s going on and if the president would be there. When Truman got there, Mr. Ross introduced the president, saying this is Bob, the nephew of Means Ray and a fellow Missourian.”

After his four years of service, which included covering the evacuation of Hungnam on Christmas Eve of 1950, Mitchell returned to his Missouri roots and began a 42-year career at the Cassville Democrat.

“My uncle [Means Ray] was not in good shape, so I was needed back here,” he said. “I had the opportunity to get orders to go to Paris, and [my wife] Sue and I would have loved that, but I had to be here.”

Mitchell worked at the Democrat for a long time with his mother, Kathryn Mitchell.

“I did most of it because I was younger and eager,” Mitchell said. “We were on the other side of square with our press, then we built [the current Democrat] building and put a web film press in. She went along with it, and anything I wanted to do she did.”

Mitchell did, however, know when his mother wanted something from him.

“She had this one thing she always said — ‘You oughta,’” he said. “Like, you oughta do this or go there. When she said that, I knew I’d better do it. For a housewife, which was most of what she ever was, I guess [the newspaper business] was just in her genes from her family, and she was a dandy. Ask about anyone who knew her, she was a fine, Christian lady.”

Mitchell said coverage in his early days was a little different than the pace of news now.

“It all came pretty natural to me,” he said. “We had country correspondents, and that was important to [the readers]. We had the best ones.”

Mitchell said he preferred covering news events and breaking news.

“I didn’t particularly like sports, although I did a lot of it,” he said. “In fact, we turned the Democrat into having pretty good sports coverage.”

Mitchell said one of his favorite stories to cover was when the National Flood Insurance Plan was introduced in the 1970s.

“Back then, there was a strong feeling around here, and people here come from a different cut,” he said. “They all say, ‘No one will tell me what to do with my property.’” Through all the enjoyment of his job, Mitchell said the paper did have its difficulties, especially when it came to its political affiliation and namesake.

“The one thing we thought about, and uncle Means pretty astute, was that we always figured about one-third of potential income was lost because of name of paper,” he said. “You’d be surprised back in those days, and it still may be true now, how many people would say, ‘Bob, you have best newspaper in the county, but I’m a Republican, and I can’t have my name on your circulation list. But, I do buy it every week in the newsstand.’

“It was the same way with advertising. A lot felt they couldn’t do ads with us because of the name.”

Those minor setbacks from the newspaper’s name did not translate into setbacks when it came to Mitchell’s involvement in growing the community. He said one of his favorite projects over the years was leading the Cassville Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

“It started in the 1970s when my dad loaned a man money to work in Springfield,” Mitchell said. “He became big in trailer suspension manufacturing during World War II, building water tanks on skids to drag through jungle. I worked for the guy when I was in high school in Springfield.

“When I came back here, he came through and was going to Fort Smith to make a prototype of a new invention he was going to start manufacturing. We asked how Cassville can get involved, and he said he would be back in two days, and we should get some people together. He had been in Lamar and had gone under, so he went out on his own. But, influences in town at the time were jealous of him and didn’t want him in the area. After that, some of us younger ones just took over, decided we’d had enough.”

Mitchell said Wells Aluminum was the first industry the IDC brought to Cassville, building a plant on Sale Barn Road. Jumpin’ Jacks was the next manufacturer who found a home in Cassville, which later became Justin Boot.

“A friend of mine from Eagle Rock in Monett was the head of a print department,” Mitchell said. “He was the one who pushed us into offset printing. I was up there one night and went out for a beer at a tavern in Monett. We sat in a booth with the Jumpin’ Jacks guy, and he said there was no way they could make all the boots they sold, and they needed another plant. We asked about Cassville getting involved. They came in and had a guy absolutely run it into ground and that’s when Justin came in, and took over their facility.”

FASCO planted itself in Cassville next, and Mitchell said convincing that business to come in was easier than some others.

“When FASCO came to town, one of the concerns was absenteeism,” Mitchell said. “I said we could connect FASCO with Jumpin’ Jacks and they would open up their books. Jumpin’ Jacks threw their absentee record open, and FASCO looked at it and said it was unbelievable. All that speaks well for the people of this area and their work ethic.”

As chairman of the IDC for 16 years, Mitchell said it was important to bring those jobs to the area.

“There was a time we had more manufacturing jobs in the city than Cassville’s population,” he said. “The city population never really grew. Young people would come back for jobs, but basically, they hired farmers from around here and people in rural areas who knew how to use their hands and had good work ethic.”

Mitchell said none of those accomplishments for Cassville would have happened without help.

“Bill Easley was president of Commerce Bank and the vice president of the IDC when things were really going on,” he said. “And, Jack Nickols was the chamber president. It was always funny, when we came to people to raise money in the 1970s, it was a lot more vibrant community than it is now. One of the first guys Easley and I would go see was Herschel Stehlik at Barry County Lumber. If we had a goal of $50,000, we’d ask for $1,000 contributions, and he was always more than willing.

“We could then go on the square and raise $25,000 easy. That was just Cassville. Joe Ellis was also a big help.”

Darlene Wierman, longtime office manager at the Democrat, said he was at his happiest when manufacturing deals closed.

“I don’t think anything made him happier than when Cassville was able to secure FASCO and Justin Boot,” she said. “These industries provided many job opportunities for residents of this area. Bob played a big part in bringing these factories to Cassville through the IDC.

“Bob was not just the editor of the Cassville Democrat , he was an involved citizen. He was a member of the Cassville Rotary Club, the Cassville Chamber of Commerce, the Cassville IDC, the First Christian Church, and probably others that I’ve forgotten.”

Another one of Mitchell’s big accomplishments was facilitating the construction of the Cassville Golf Course on Highway 112.

“It was about the time of the Cuban missile crisis and I picked up a Mitchell, S.D., newspaper, and they were applying for a Farmers Home Administration (FHA) loan for their golf course,” Mitchell said. “We had built a sand green course, but everyone was talking about getting grass greens. Berryville, Ark., wanted to start a course through the FHA, so three of us went down to talk to them and start the application process [for Cassville].”

Mitchell said there was a deal for 80 acres, and Cassville submitted the application to FHA, which if granted, would give the city the first FHA loan for a golf course in the state of Missouri.

“The application was moving through and the government was not very forthcoming, so the option [on the land] ran out and the guy who gave the option knew he had us in a bind,” Mitchell said. “So he took 40 acres off and we had to scramble to get 30 more acres for a nine-hole course.

“Our senators came through for us with the FHA, and we got the nine-hole course built. You can see what it is today at 18 holes, and the Kansas City Star listed it as one of the top public courses in the state.”

An accomplishment in philanthropy surrounded the life, death and remembrance of Joe Starchman, in whose memory now scholarships are awarded to local graduates.

“Lige Frost came in one day and said little Joe Starchman needed a heart and lung transplant, and he had to raise $250,000 to have in-hand to pay for things like the rejection drugs,” Mitchell said. “We put together an organizing committee, and I resigned last year as the last of the charter trustees.”

Mitchell said the fundraising efforts went off without a hitch, bringing in donations from Joplin, Lamar, Springfield and Arkansas.

“We came up with the money pretty quick,” he said. “Joe lived to be 16 but died before he could get the transplant. I’ll never forget as long as I live, there was a news conference at the school, so the TV crews came and Joe’s parents were being interviewed. I was in another room talking with Joe, and he was looking outside at a helicopter and he asked me, ‘Bob, am I famous?’” After Starchman died, the money was funneled into a non-profit group for disbursement of scholarships in Starchman’s name, and the same funds fuel the program today.

“Back then, banks were paying [extremely high] interest, so the fund actually grew,” Mitchell said. “In 2014, that was the first time we had to dip into the principal sum.”

Each year, the organization hands out 16 scholarships of $500 per semester for two semesters. Scholarships are available to every high school senior in Barry County.

Mitchell said during his time in the newspaper business, he saw copious amounts of change.

“The biggest change over time was the move to offset printing,” he said. “Coverage-wise, some of the rural correspondents died, and we had some good ones.

“Dale Freeman, the editor of the Springfield News-Leader, was a friend of mine, and there were about three or four correspondents Dale would quote almost religiously in his column in the News-Leader. One time, he called and asked if I had my boat in the water. I said yes, it’s in Big M, and he said he was going to come down and go for a boat ride. He wanted to meet our correspondent in Seldom Seen Hollow. We got to her place and he said, ‘Ma’am, I just love your correspondence, keep up the good work. And he was right. She was a dandy.”

With so many accomplishments over his career at the Democrat, Mitchell decided to sell the newspaper in the 1990s, but was specific in who he would sell it to.

“We had two or three groups in wanting to buy the paper, and I always had decided I’m not going to sell to corporate groups,” Mitchell said. “One of the guys, a newspaper broker, asked what is the main problem with competition. My response was [my competition is] a lawyer. The broker said he was, too. So, I said that cut him out.”

Mitchell said he was talking to someone on the phone about the future of the paper one day, and Wierman asked if he was planning to sell it.

“She said Lisa Schlichtman would probably like to buy it,” Mitchell said. “I told Darlene to tell Lisa she had better get her pennies in line.”

That conversation was in May of 1995, and one month later, Schlitchman and her husband, Mike, closed the deal.

“I was ready,” Mitchell said. “I had been here 50 years. Political things were evolving more, and I probably would have done some silly things. But, I’ve never regretted it, and I enjoy writing the column now.”

Wierman said in working with Mitchell throughout the years, it was clear how much he cares for the newspaper and the community.

“Bob cares deeply about Cassville, Barry County and the Table Rock Lake area,” she said. “Having worked for Bob and his mother, Kathryn Mitchell, who was publisher of the Cassville Democrat, I know how much of his time was spent promoting Cassville. When it came to Cassville, if Cassville was ever overlooked or not given recognition or credit for something that he believed was due, he would take it as a personal insult.

“Bob’s family roots run deep here, as this was where he grew up. He truly believed this was a special place, and I’ve heard him refer to it as ‘God’s Country’ many times. You also can’t talk about Bob Mitchell without talking about his politics. He is a proud Democrat. Politics plays a prominent role in his life. For one thing he came from a long line of Democrats in his family.”

As editor of the paper, Wierman said Mitchell was called upon many times to give his assistance to Democratic candidates, and several of them relied on him to write their political ads, which Bob didn’t hesitate to do.

“I think a couple of highlights for him was when Nolan McNeill, a Democrat from Cassville, got elected state representative from this district, and also when Rex Stumpff, a Democrat, got elected Barry County Clerk,” she said. “There were some others, but I think these two were special for him.”

Schlitchman said she was new to Cassville and fresh out of journalism school at the University of Missouri when she first met Mitchell.

“When I first worked for him, my desk was in his office and he would go to meetings and take notes, then have me write up the stories,” she said. “Then, I had kids and was staying at home, but when Bob was out of town, I would run the paper for him.”

Schlitchman said she and her husband, Mike, bought the paper from Mitchell in 1995 because it was the next best thing to his children buying it.

“We were a young couple and committed to Cassville,” she said. “One thing I truly learned from Bob was to be committed to the area. The paper would be successful if Cassville was successful. Bob also taught me to be generous with my time and to get involved.”

Schlitchman said Mitchell exemplified the approach with his work through the IDC.

“His helping to bring so much industry to Cassville probably saved the city,” she said. “And, from the other side, you have to have industry and businesses to buy ads, and people who live locally to subscribe. Bob understood that newspapers have a role in community growth and economic development, and I still use that same philosophy.

“Bob and Sue were also a great model of the husband and wife team for me and Mike. We really admired their lifestyle and relationship.”

Mitchell continued to stay involved with the Democrat via a weekly column, which he continued writing through the end of 2022.

“I don’t really miss the business,” he said. “The column keeps me in it just enough. I get tickled when people say, ‘Oh Bob, I like your column and what you said last week.’ And, I always say call down there to the office and tell them, and maybe I’ll get a raise. People like that kind of stuff, leaning on the past.”

Mitchell referred to his induction into the two halls of fame in 2017 as a “high honor” to both the Democrat and the Cassville community. He credited his success in large part to his wife of more than 70 years, Sue Mitchell, who died on Jan. 31, 2023.

He concluded his Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame induction speech by asserting that democracy cannot exist without a vibrant press, and in his view, community journalists are needed today more than ever.

“God save the United States of America,” he said.

The audience responded by giving him a hearty standing ovation.

Through all the years, Mitchell said he has no regrets.

“It was a good ride, and it was really good to us,” he said. “I’ve got no remorse about anything. If I stepped on any toes back then, I’d step on them again.”