Remembering Cliff Danielson

Cliff Danielson Former NEWS publisher, Cliff Danielson, 87, who died July 29 from complications due to a long-term illness, was laid to rest after memorial services at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church Saturday.

Many members of the community paid their respects to a man whose influence and contributions shaped Stanwood.

John Dean, current Island County commissioner and former NEWS editor who worked under Danielson for several years, said he was sad to hear of Danielson's passing.

"It is the end of another Stanwood- Camano era, the passing of another Stanwood-Camano champion and eminent citizen who did so much for the town and for me personally," said Dean. Dean credits Danielson with giving him his first break in journalism after moving to the area in the 1970s.

"He took a chance that, even though I didn't have a journalism career, I could do the job," he said. "I did, and he treated me like family in return."

Shirley Danielson remembers her husband as a loving and driven family man.

"He was always a very, very nice man," said Shirley. "We had a lot of good times."

The two met when Shirley came to the NEWS office to buy poster board for a project.

In 1960, after a 15- month courtship, they married and eventually had two sons and two daughters, all of whom spent plenty of time around the NEWS office, said Shirley.

"He was a hands-on newspaper man," she said.

Danielson was born June 2, 1922, on his family's farm in Vining, Minnesota.

At the age of 3, he moved with the family to the Cedarhome area of East Stanwood.

He graduated from Lincoln High in 1940.

Following graduation, he attended Western Washington University for a year and then worked in the Seattle shipyards, helping produce destroyer ships for the war effort.

In 1943, at the age of 20, Danielson enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber and flew harrowing missions over Germany.

Shirley said Danielson flew 35 missions, which was more than the requirement for a standard tour. Prior to June 1944, bomber crews were required to fly only 30 combat missions.

Shirley credits luck and the grace of God with saving Danielson's life.

"The very next mission, the plane was shot down," said Shirley.

After the war, Danielson graduated from the University of Washington in 1949 and worked as a journalist for several newspapers in Washington state.

Danielson bought the Twin City NEWS at a time when Stanwood, then two separate municipalities, was on the verge of significant changes.

When he took over the newspaper in 1958, a citylimit sign divided the two towns — one side was inscribed "East Stanwood," the other "Stanwood."

"It was really silly," said Danielson in a 1990 Seattle Times interview. "Together, we could do so much; divided, we couldn't ever accomplish anything."

For Danielson, unity and community became focal points for his interests inside and outside the NEWS office.

Danielson was a founding member of Stanwood- Camano Area Foundation's board of trustees in 1962.

He also served several years on the Stanwood City Council, first from 1962 to 1966 and again from 1986 to 1993. Danielson helped complete part three of the "The Stanwood Story," a chronological pictorial history of the Stanwood area and Camano Island written by Alice Essex.

He was also instrumental in the creation of Church Creek Park and served as a Cub Scout master.

Former NEWS publisher Dave Pinkham, who purchased the paper from Danielson in 1985, remembers him as a friend and mentor.

"He was a local boy," said Pinkham. "His passing is a significant moment in the community's history."

Pinkham said Danielson's influence in the community stemmed from his personality.

"He was a gentle person who also had a lot of strength and courage," he said. "He had a sense of what was appropriate and what was necessary."

More than anything, Danielson's writing was second to none and always embodied the highest level of professionalism, said Pinkham.

In a final editorial as NEWS publisher, written in October 1985 and entitled "Moving On," Danielson said farewell to the community he helped chronicle for nearly three decades.

"When you look ahead, 27 years sounds like a long time. But if you are involved in something intensely interesting, the years in retrospect seem to telescope to moments. It's true that time flies when you're having fun," Danielson said.

He also passed along sage advice for continuing the high standards of journalistic professionalism he held dear.

"I think the most important service a newspaper can provide is a continuing stream of information about all phases of a community's life, its warts as well as its beauty spots," said Danielson. "Enjoy and God bless."

Reporter Rick Wood: 629-8066 ext. 104 or rwood@scnews.com.