Michael Mead dies at 85. Former publisher of Erie Times-News remembered for serving city

Michael Mead, who championed his hometown of Erie as much as he did the importance of a free press as a publisher of the Erie Times-News and a grandson of the newspaper's founder, died Monday at his home near Clearwater, Florida.

He was 85 and had been in hospice care for several months, his family said. The family also said a private memorial service is planned in Florida.

Mead served as co-publisher from 1974 to 1996 and publisher from 1996 to 2003. He was the last member of the Mead family to serve as publisher of the Erie Times-News, which Mead's grandfather John J. Mead founded with a group of other printers in 1888. The newspaper started as the Erie Daily Times.

The Times Publishing Company, the parent company of the Erie Times-News and GoErie.com, was sold to New Media Investment Group, the holding company of Gatehouse Media, in 2016. Gatehouse Media merged with Gannett, the Erie Times-News' current owner, in 2019.

Michael Mead served as co-publisher of the Erie Times-News with his two cousins, Frank and Ed Mead, from 1974 to 1996 and he succeeded Ed Mead as publisher in 1996.

Though he was far less of a public figure than Ed Mead — who wrote a daily column from 1952 until two years before he died at 88 in 2015 — Michael Mead, known as Mike, was an engine behind the scenes, helping the Times-News and Erie grow and encouraging the city and the newspaper to pursue innovation.

"His commitment to the community was unparalleled," said Erie resident Jim Dible, who succeeded Michael Mead as publisher of the Erie Times-News in 2003.

"Dad loved Erie. He loved the newspaper and he loved his family," Mead's son Kevin Mead II said. "His mission was the betterment of Erie. And he always said that what was good for Erie was good for everyone."

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Making his own way in the family business

Mead was born in Erie on March 27, 1938, the first of four children of George J. and Mary Evelyn Mead. George Mead served as co-publisher of the Erie Times-News, and Michael Mead eventually followed a similar career path. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts and worked at Bankers Trust Co. in New York before graduating from Harvard Business School and returning to Erie and the family business.

Mead worked and lived for a time in Warren, where he was publisher of the Warren Times Observer, which the Times Publishing Company owned at the time. Upon his return to Erie to become co-publisher of the Erie Times-News, Mead became deeply involved in the Erie community.

He served on the boards of numerous transportation and economic development organizations, as well as the boards of Gannon University, Perseus House, the Times Old Newsies and Hamot Medical Center, now UPMC Hamot. He was also involved with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Mead believed that "part of being a steward of the newspaper was to be involved in helping every aspect of the community," Kevin Mead said. He said his father was most proud of the establishment of the Regional Cancer Center, in 1987, and the creation of the Bayfront Parkway, in 1990.

Michael Mead pushed Erie to solve its problems on its own.

"This region has some very large challenges," he said in April 2004, at a ceremony where he and Ed Mead received the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership's Louis J. Tullio Community Service Award, named after the longtime Erie mayor. "There are no outside forces that are going to make it better. We're going to have to do it ourselves."

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A deep belief in the newspaper, and in Erie

At the Erie Times-News, Mead helped lead the formation of GoErie.com and the newspaper's advancement into the digital age.

"He was at the forefront of leading us in the right direction," Dible said.

Mead also cherished and cultivated the newspaper's independence. He was an advocate of pursuing in-depth stories that might not necessarily portray the community in a positive light.

"A community and its newspaper are generally very closely connected. Both contribute to each other," Mead said in an Erie Times-News article on April 12, 2013, which marked the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Times Publishing Company on April 12, 1888. "Sometimes you have to say things people don't want to hear, or what isn't working. In this business, there are always many challenges."

Inside the Erie Times-News, Mead was known for his knowledge of the newspaper business and of Erie. He could often be a stern presence, especially when he questioned a reporter about a detail in a story or when he sat at the bargaining table to negotiate a contract with one of the newspaper's labor unions. But Mead was also generous, whether reaching out to an employee dealing with a death in the family or congratulating a reporter on a story that was particularly well done.

"He had a gruff demeanor, but he was a teddy bear," Dible said.

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A world traveler who always called one place home

Mead was also a polymath. He was always exploring new foods and he loved to travel with his wife of more than 60 years, Adele Mead. The two filled their longtime home on Manchester Beach, in Fairview Township, with artwork from their journeys around the world, including China, Italy, England and Paris. He and Adele Mead moved to Florida several years ago.

"He was someone who knew more about more things than anyone I had the pleasure to be around," Dible said. "He enjoyed life. He didn't always show it externally."

Later in life, Mead enjoyed visiting his four children and his eight grandchildren. The visits took him and his wife across the country, to St. Louis and Baltimore and Virginia and Long Island.

But he never forgot where he came from.

"No matter where he was in the world," Kevin Mead said, "he always said he was from Erie."

Obituary: Michael Mead, 1938-2023

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former Times-News publisher Michael Mead remembered for love of Erie