Enquirer veteran David Wells 'loved to explain everything'
Veteran journalist David Wells, who spent 35 years as an Enquirer reporter and editor and then 11 years teaching journalism at Miami University, died Monday in his Union Township home.
Wells, 71, suffered a heart attack, according to his daughter, Caroline Stanton.
Wells joined The Enquirer as a reporting intern in 1974, retiring in 2009 as editorial page editor. In between, he served as local news editor, supervising 12 other editors and some 70 reporters.
“He was a rock of professionalism and integrity in that newsroom,” said former Enquirer political reporter Howard Wilkinson, a friend of 40 years.
Wells earned respect both in and outside the newsroom, covering everything from the Donald Harvey murders at Drake Hospital to the collapse of Ohio’s savings and loan industry, Wilkinson said. “Sources knew he would treat them fairly, with up-front honesty.”
Growing up, Stanton and her brother, Brian Wells, learned to “consider the source” from their father. “He was an equal opportunity skeptic,” Stanton said.
A history buff, Wells “loved to explain everything,” she said.
That inspired his move to teaching in 2011, she added, where he relished working with student journalists.
Early on, he lamented that his Miami charges could not name Ohio’s governor, senators or local representatives – or figure out “how to stalk the police chief” for quotes, his daughter said.
Over time, he coached them on all those topics. “He had high standards, but he would help you get there,” she said.
Wells’ considerable skills made him an ideal editor for the Oxford Observer, a faculty-led, student-produced news site. From its start in the fall of 2018 to his retirement in spring 2022, Wells was dedicated to publishing new editions 45 out of 52 weeks a year.
“His old-school journalistic style taught the reporters the basics of covering a community,” said Miami journalism instructor Sacha DeVroomen Bellman, content editor of the site.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Philadelphia's suburbs, Wells graduated from Ohio University in Athens in 1974.
After he lost his wife, Toni, to a heart attack in 2014, “he came into his own as a grandparent,” Stanton said, with a social life that revolved around soccer games and dance recitals.
In addition to his daughter and son, Wells is survived by daughter-in-law Lisa Wells; son-in-law Patrick Stanton; and grandchildren Braden and Jackson Wells, and Alice and Fiona Stanton.
Visitation will be at Geo. H. Rohde & Son Funeral Home, 3183 Linwood Ave., Friday, 5-8 p.m. Mass of Christian burial will be at St. Francis Xavier, 611 Sycamore St., Saturday, 9 a.m.
Memorial contributions can be directed to the Oxford Observer, Report for Ohio Fund, Miami University Advancement, 725 E. Chestnut St., Oxford, Ohio, 45056, attention Joe Christman or sent online.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: David Wells funeral services
