| Show THE UTAH NEWSPAPER HALL OF FAME NORMAN FUELLENBACH Richfield Reaper Born September 24 1922 Died November 27 1977 Installed in Hall of Fame at St George 1991 Had Fate not intervened he would probably have been an attorney Instead the tragic death of his two brothers caused him to abandonlifelong dream and join the staff of his familyRichfield Reaper where he becamemuch-honored publisher Colleagues in journalism knew Norman Fuellenbach simply as Norm Countless friends in the five-county area served by his paper dubbed him the Rat The title was bestowed with affection not disdain an offshoot of his widely read column Reaper Cussions or the Reaper Rat Race He was associated with the newspaper for 31 years eighteen as its publisher before his career was cut short byfatal heart attack at age 55 Under his deft guidance the Reaper became one of Utahmost-lauded weeklies an authoritative editorial voice andstaunch proponent of Rooster Valley title coined by its publisher to describe the fertile agricultural environs of the Sevier River While it left the impression that this wascenter of the chicken industry that wasnthe case Its creator simply felt it describedrather remote and far-flung expanse -the super boonies as he termed it -and they were something to crow about Born September 1922 in Eureka Utah he was one of four children of Joseph and Rula Johnson Fuellenbach Asyoungster he spent four years in California before returning to his native state in 1934 when his father became publisher of the Richfield paper Late in 1935 upon the death of Mr Fuel 503 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
