Obituary

William "Bill" McKinley Ringle, Jr.

January 7, 1923 - September 5, 2011

William M. Ringle, Jr, a distinguished newspaper reporter whose career extended from 1948 to 1988, died on September 5, 2011 in Davidson, North Carolina. The cause of death was colon cancer, for which he had been under treatment since June, 2003. He was 88 years old at the time of his death.
He was born and raised in Gloversville, New York, the son of William M. and Martha D. Ringle. He attended Gloversville High School, Worcester Academy, and received his B.A. from Hamilton College in 1944. He immediately entered the Navy, and served as an Ensign and then Lieutenant aboard two Land Craft Infantry vessels in the South Pacific. After honorable discharge from the Navy, he entered the Merchant Marine and visited a number of European ports.
In October, 1948, he was married in Gloversville to Marie M. Mahoney, whom he had known since childhood. "Our marriage lent me more happiness and pride than any event in my life.” He has said, of his wife, that she was “a beautiful sweetheart smarter and with more commonsense than me."
He got his start as a reporter on the Rome (N.Y.) Daily Sentinel. He moved to the Rochester Times-Union between 1951-1959, then transferred to Gannett New Service’s Albany bureau from 1959-1965. He was managing editor of The Saratogian newspaper in Saratoga Springs, NY, for a year and was then assigned to Gannett’s Washington bureau. At the time of his retirement in 1988, he was the Chief Correspondent for the entire Gannett News Service.
Over the course of his career, he covered an extraordinarily wide range of subjects, including Cuba just after the revolution, several arms-control summits in Moscow and Washington, the Supreme Court, the US Tax Court, the Defense Department, the State Department, the Middle East, Cuba, the Watergate hearings and numerous national political conventions. He had a deep and abiding affection for China. After covering President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, he returned many times as a reporter and in 1978 escorted Chinese editors and reporters on a three-week tour of the United States, at that time the highest-level PRC delegation of any kind to have visited the United States.
In 1977, he was elected a member of The Gridiron Club, a prestigious group of the most respected Washington journalists. In recognition of his exemplary accomplishments as a journalist, Gannett has designated in his name its “Outstanding Career Achievement Award”.

Following his retirement, he taught reporting and writing in the China School of Journalism in Beijing, in Mongolia, and at Georgetown University. In 2008 they moved to The Pines retirement community in Davidson, N.C.
Survivors include his wife, son William M. Ringle III and daughter-in-law Georgia Ringle of Davidson, N. C., daughter Sarah E. V. Ringle and son-in-law Harvey Berman of New York City, and daughter Christine R. Day and son-in-law John Day of Vincennes, Indiana, as well as four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Sister Rosemary Buggeln and husband Jack Buggeln reside in Johnstown, N.Y.
The family wishes to express its gratitude to the staff and residents of The Pines for their many kindnesses over the past three years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Residents Support Fund, The Pines, 400 Avinger Lane, Davidson, NC 28036.